Hundreds of health care workers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to quickly implement his long-promised cap on oil and gas pollution emissions to save thousands of lives.
Nearly 300 health care workers across the country signed an open letter this week calling on the prime minister to significantly reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector.
If Canada were to successfully cap oil industry emissions at 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, 4,800 premature deaths could be prevented, according to the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), which said it used data from Health Canada to arrive at these estimates.
Health Canada estimates that air pollution contributes to 15,300 premature deaths per year in Canada.
“Canada’s emissions problem is an air pollution problem, and worsening air pollution harms everyone’s health,” said Dr.r Joe Vipond, former ACME president and emergency physician.
“While other sectors are working hard to reduce their emissions, oil and gas companies are increasing their pollution. We urge Prime Minister Trudeau to act quickly to enforce a strong and effective emissions cap,” added Dr.r Vipond in a press release that accompanied the open letter.
According to ACME, which initiated the letter, capping the industry’s emissions would also reduce dangerous air pollutants such as “nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, annual ozone and summertime ozone” and prevent non-fatal health problems such as “respiratory conditions such as asthma, heart disease, neurological disorders such as dementia, and reproductive problems such as low birth weight.”
The largest source of GHGs in the country
The open letter, signed by family physicians, nurses, surgeons and other health professionals, notes that, according to the most recent data from the Government of Canada, the oil and gas sector continues to be the largest source of greenhouse gases in Canada, accounting for 31 per cent of total national emissions.
Last December, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault presented a plan to cap GHG emissions from the oil and gas industry. The minister indicated at the time that draft regulations should be published by mid-2024 and final regulations should be in place in 2025.
The signatories of the open letter are calling for the draft regulation to be published “as soon as possible in September 2024” so that the cap can be implemented “by 2025 to avoid any further delays.”
The doctors also demand that the cap “does not allow industries to circumvent real emissions reductions through payment options or offset credits.”
The signatories are thus referring to the relaxations contained in the Liberal plan to cap GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector.
When Minister Guilbeault presented the plan at the beginning of the year, he also indicated that businesses could pay amounts to give themselves flexibility.
So, taking into account the relaxations, the industry will be able to produce emissions levels 20 to 23% below 2019 levels provided that it buys offset credits or contributes to a decarbonization fund.
ACME is also calling on the government to aim for a 45% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030, rather than a 35 to 38% decrease below 2019 levels by 2030, as called for in the Liberal plan.