The CAQ government no longer seems to believe in the carbon neutrality of the Turcot interchange and says it will have to do better than the Liberals to offset the environmental impact of the third link.
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“Clearly, the firewalls and control systems put in place by the previous government did not yield the expected results,” said Environment Minister Benoit Charrette. We learn from this experience and we will have to do better. »
He was reacting to the revelations of our Investigation Office on the carbon credits used to make the construction of the Turcot interchange carbon neutral.
The hydroelectric plant in India chosen to offset three quarters of GHG emissions is particularly criticized because of deforestation and the impact on biological diversity.
However, Quebec gave the green light to the project under the CAQ government, on August 25, 2020.
A company responsible for carbon neutral infrastructure also lost certification due to deficiencies in its tree plantings.
The Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, must present a carbon neutral approach for the third link project in Quebec, indicated Minister Charette. Mr. Bonnardel brandished the example of Turcot in order to promote a carbon neutral tunnel.
ECOBLEACHING
The revelations of the Bureau of Inquiry made the opposition parties jump yesterday, particularly for the planned tunnel between Quebec and Lévis.
“The CAQ is trying to make the world believe that its third link is going to be a green and carbon neutral project. We see it with Turcot, it’s porridge for the cats,” declared the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“We are presented with a project that is indefensible from an environmental point of view, but we are trying to pass it on with what is commonly called in English ‘greenwashing’,” added PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
Liberal leader Dominique Anglade believes that only François Legault and his Minister of Transport believe that this tunnel project is carbon neutral.