Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will table the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers” from their fifth assessment of the physical science basis for climate change. I’d like to ask the Minister of Environment, would the Minister please confirm that this government accepts the latest report from the IPCC and that this government understands that “continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and that limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions on of greenhouse gas emissions” very soon? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very clearly, this government is aware of the impact of climate change. We’re aware of all reports done by the IPCC. There is no debate from us whether those findings are valid or not. We’re spending millions and millions of dollars as a government to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and global warming and we will continue to make those substantial investments as we balance a whole list of competing needs. Definitely there’s no debate on this side of the House on whether their findings are valid or not. Thank you.
I’m glad the Minister agrees with competing needs. That’s interesting. We are spending, of course, less and less each year on this issue. Could the Minister of Environment confirm that this government understands that greenhouse emissions are created when we burn fossil fuels like oil and gas, and if the oil and gas is left in the ground, they cannot create greenhouse gas emissions? Mahsi.
We have a major economic initiative, alternative energy-based initiative, which is the expansion of the transmission lines between Snare and the Taltson between 500 million to 700 million dollars. I consider that a very, very substantial investment. We are working throughout the North on expanding biomass, wind, solar. We are investing millions in that as well. We are spending millions upgrading our own facilities, converting to biomass. We’ve changed our guidelines for construction. Wherever you look, we are trying to lower our consumption and improve our energy efficiencies, work on conservation and we are a cold-weather jurisdiction, we are a cold-weather people and country. The fact of the matter is that for some time into the future, we are going to rely on non-renewable resources. At the same time, that does not deter us from working on the transition. Diamond mines are putting in wind, substantial investments in wind to cut their costs.
So we are well aware of the challenges. We deal with them every day and we are going to continue to invest in those alternative energy technologies and minimize our reliance on diesel and other petroleum products and, at the same time, recognizing that we still require them to have airplanes in the air, cars on the road and, in many cases, still to heat our houses. We have to have that balance between those factors and the ones we were just talking about.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thanks to the Minister for that very long diatribe on something, but I assume that he understands when we burn fossil fuels, they release emissions, but if we leave the fossil fuels in the ground, they won’t release those emissions.
The Minister reported yesterday that he judged fracking developments in the Sahtu can be done sustainably, including environmentally so.
Could the Minister please provide the government’s estimate for the quantity of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses that will be released as a result of extracting and burning the oil and gas that is stored in the Sahtu shale oil deposit? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Before we go on, I apologize to the Member for almost cutting you short one question, but the preamble and the answers are so long. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we’ll work with committee and this House to provide all the necessary numbers we require to make the most informed decisions in terms of the costs and benefits and the risk and rewards for the work in the Sahtu. The numbers and the requests the Member has made will be factored into that information that is going to be pulled together as we move forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look forward to those numbers. Yesterday the Minister of ENR stated in our House that the government and ENR have already decided we can manage the risk from fracking. We know that increasing greenhouse gas emissions is against all the best possible scientific advice we can have. We know the impacts of climate change are already having soaring costs to the people of the NWT and the planet.
If Sahtu oil is proven, how does the Minister propose to manage the risks caused by fracking a very large but unknown amount of fossil fuels so they can be burned and the resulting greenhouse gases deposited in our planet’s atmosphere? How will the Minister manage this, from unsustainable to sustainable?
That is the challenge before us, as the Member articulates. But clearly, at this point our focus is on getting our thinking clear on the guidance we need to provide as a government when it comes to best practices of unconventional hydraulic fracturing. Then we have to work, as well, just to see what’s going to happen at the exploration stage. If things prove out and we start moving into the fact being a producing field, then clearly the work and those questions the Member has posed will be part of the grist for the millet of environmental assessments, the timing of intensity, pace, all those critical issues, how do we factor in cumulative impact. As we move forward, those are the things we’re going to have to put our minds to. We’ve started doing that already. We’re taking over with devolution and we’re going to have cumulative impact resources coming over from the federal government and we are going to be working with the regulatory processes and our own officials to plan both for the exploration that’s happening, as well, casting our eyes to the future. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
