FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2017

CONTACT:
Adam Scott, adam [at] priceofoil.org, +1 416 347 3858

Oil Change International reacts to the cancellation of Energy East

Today, TransCanada cancelled its proposed Energy East pipeline project. In response, Adam Scott, Senior Advisor at Oil Change International released the following statement:

“This is an important day in the fight against climate change in Canada. Realizing that Energy East would never would never be allowed if its full climate impact was accounted for, TransCanada has walked away from the project.

“Energy East was a disaster waiting to happen. The pipeline and tanker proposal scheme was utterly incompatible with a world where we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The project was designed to facilitate massive, long-lived expansion of Canada’s oil production at a time when science shows we must cut carbon pollution rapidly. TransCanada pulled its application for Energy East once the National Energy Board (NEB) ruled that it would consider all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the project.

“Oil Change International estimates its construction would have created up to an additional 236 million tons of carbon pollution each year, multiplied over decades of operation.

“Energy East was just the latest in a string of ill-conceived tar sands pipeline projects. Like Northern Gateway, Keystone XL, Enbridge’s Line 3, and Kinder Morgan before it, this pipeline generated unprecedented grassroots opposition from Indigenous peoples, and front-line communities across the continent aiming to protect their climate, their water, and their rights. This movement grows stronger every day.

“Canada cannot live up to its obligations to protect our climate if allows new, long-lived, high-carbon infrastructure to be built. Energy East is yet another lesson about how Canada must make decisions on its energy future going forward.

“The fossil fuel era is ending. Energy East is just the latest in a growing list of projects that will never see the light of day. Movements will continue to stand up to projects that we know are not in the best interests of our communities, our climate, and our children. But our governments must also step up to ensure that our transition off of fossil fuels to the safe and renewable energy future is just and managed.”

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