Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement with questions to the Premier. It’s kind of a wild idea, obviously, given the direction we’re headed and so many jurisdictions around the world are.
Is the Premier and his Cabinet familiar with the science suggesting that 80 percent of the fossil fuels known reserves must stay in the ground if we are to avoid dangerous climate change and also the most recent publications in Nature that deal with those areas and types of resources that can be tapped into and still avoid that condition? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not familiar with that theory or recent publications in Nature magazine that the Member is referring to, but I do know that greater than 80 percent of our oil and gas reserves are already underground and stranded here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you to the Premier for that response. I will share some of those resources with the Premier and, hopefully, Cabinet. My colleague mentioned February 13th Divestment Day. I’m sure the Premier has heard that many billions of dollars have been divested away from fossil fuels around the world. It’s a bit of a movement from people recognizing the extreme degree of action that’s required. The Rockefellers and so on have divested their interest in fossil fuels.
Will this government recognize that sort of thing and bring that into their thinking? The science clearly says that we must be moving away from fossil fuels with consideration of that science. Mahsi.
I guess we’re not all Rockefellers here in the Northwest Territories, but we are taking action in that regard with the Energy Charrette. We are moving in that direction. We are waiting for the outcomes of the Energy Charrette and we are committed that we will take action when we have those results. Our government is taking a balanced approach to development and we expect that going forward we will be, as we stated in our second Energy Charrette, that those are the kinds of things we are looking at doing to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Premier. That’s exactly why I’m bringing this up, although it’s extreme. The science is recognizing that we are dealing with an extreme situation and the government is thinking about these things, so it’s an opportunity. The regional expectations are great. Hopes and dreams are based on fossil fuels. I know this sort of thing will be very disappointing to them, but on the positive, renewable energy development is much more labour intensive, much more equitable in spreading the benefits around and produces a much more durable economy.
Does the Premier agree with that and is he going to take that and pursue every opportunity to follow that model of development? Mahsi.
Certainly, we are headed in that direction. We expect to be spending significant amounts of investment in alternative and renewable forms of energy. Just to show some of the things we are already doing in our government of the 17th Assembly, through alternative energy products, building retrofits, biomass projects, cumulative savings of over $3.3 million have been achieved in the last three fiscal years; the energy conservation projects have helped reduce the Government of the Northwest Territories’ reliance on fossil fuels, heating oil in particular. Since 2007, Public Works and Services energy conservation projects have displaced the equivalent of 13 million litres of fuel oil and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 35,000 tonnes by the end of 2013-2014. We are planning on investing much more in those areas. When you see the results of the Energy Charrette, contrary to what the honourable Member across the way was talking about yesterday, it’s more than just a report. It is a report that is being promoted across the Northwest Territories. This government will respond to the recommendations and we will take action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I heard the Premier say he will respond to my recommendation and get us out of the fossil fuel business. The science is clear. It’s peer reviewed in the most prestigious science journal we have globally. Yet, the Premier is pursuing fossil fuel development in his expensive travels about the world and so on.
Will the Premier, in fact, shift the resources? I believe looking at the budget we have about $5 million in fossil fuel development. Will he shift those resources in pursuing a sound and sustainable economy that’s based exclusively on renewable energy? Mahsi.
I think the Member is putting words in my mouth. At the Energy Charrette we were told we have very complex 65 megawatts and we will still need to burn fossil fuels in order to have redundancy. You reference our travel around the world and I think many of the Members here have travelled around the world as well. They should see the value in doing that. We see oil and gas development having a future in the Northwest Territories, but we will be investing millions of dollars in alternative and renewable forms of energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
