FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 21, 2020

CONTACT:
Liz Bernstein, lbernstein [at] nobelwomensinitiative [dot] org

Over 40 Nobel Laureates call on Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Freeland to reject the Teck Frontier tar sands mine

(Ottawa) Over 40 Nobel Laureates, including chemist Roald Hoffmann, economist Edmund Phelps, activist Jody Williams, and Canadian writer Alice Munro are calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Freeland to do the right thing for our shared climate and reject the Teck Frontier tar sands mine.

Their letter, signed by Nobel Prize recipients from the fields of physics, peace, literature, chemistry, economics, and medicine, makes clear that there is no place for new fossil fuel production in the current climate emergency.

The letter states:

There is enough carbon embedded in already operating oil, gas, and coal fields and mines to take us beyond 2°C , let alone 1.5°C. The implications of this are clear: there is no room for expansion of the fossil fuel sector. There is no room for the Teck Frontier tar sands mine. 

Projects that enable fossil fuel growth at this moment in time are an affront to our state of climate emergency, and the mere fact that they warrant debate in Canada should be seen as a disgrace. They are wholly incompatible with your government’s recent commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. And with clear infringements on First Nations rights, such projects fly in the face of rhetoric and purported efforts towards reconciliation.

The letter further points out the responsibility and opportunity for the Canadian government to show critical and much-needed leadership on the global stage and to, “act with the moral clarity required by the state of this crisis and reject the proposed Teck Frontier mine proposal.

The Teck Frontier mine is the largest tar sands extraction proposal ever. If built, it would further undermine Canada’s commitments to both climate action and Indigenous reconciliation. 

The full letter and list of signatories is available at: https://bit.ly/2ugd4uh

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