COVID-19 has changed everything. Oil markets are in chaos, and companies like Shell and Total are pulling out of the oil sands. The oil boom is over. But the federal government is ploughing ahead with the Trans Mountain pipeline project, putting billions of tax dollars at risk at a time when we need every public dollar to help Canadians weather the economic storm caused by the pandemic.
The Trans Mountain pipeline will ship oil for 50 years, locking us in to decades of carbon emissions that will make it impossible to meet our climate targets. One major spill of toxic bitumen could devastate B.C.’s priceless coast. And the pipeline is set to bulldoze through the unceded territory of Indigenous communities who have not given their consent.
All this for a project that no longer makes sense. Building a heavy oil pipeline in the post-COVID age ignores science and economics. That’s why more than 100 Canadian economists and energy experts have called on the government to rethink the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Construction is still in its early stages, and billions could still be saved to fund the clean energy projects and green jobs that will build a healthy, resilient economy for all Canadians.
Aerial image of Trans Mountain Pipeline oil spill in Burnaby, covers entire intersection, yards and is next to houses.
Trans Mountain Pipeline – What’s at stake?
The Salish Sea is under direct threat from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The expansion will bring 400 AFRAMAX oil tankers to Metro Vancouver every year, each loaded with toxic bitumen that would cause an ecological disaster if spilled. Dogwood has organized crucial community opposition to the project, which forced the original corporate backer (Kinder Morgan) to sell off the project to the federal government.
The pipeline expansion project threatens our land and water, our global climate and the unceded territories of Indigenous communities who have not given their consent. We’re working with a broad coalition to put relentless pressure on Ottawa to cancel the pipeline and save billions of taxpayer dollars for clean energy and a just transition.