Caught peddling oil sands at global warming negotiations, Minister denies Canada’s dirty secret

Youth respond to meeting with Alberta Environment Minister

Today, Canadian youth met Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner at the UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland, to engage in dialogue about Alberta’s environmental performance and to explore the province’s global warming strategy. The youth were astonished by the Minister’s lack of ambition when asked about Alberta’s commitment to preventing catastrophic global warming, and his denial of the destructive health and environmental effects of the Alberta bituminous oil sands.

Christel Hyshka, from Edmonton, said in response to the meeting, ‘‘I’m surprised that he accepted the 2 degree C upper limit of temperature change recommended by the scientific community, while he nonchalantly asserted Alberta’s right to have soaring greenhouse gas emissions. I’m shocked at his assumption that Alberta doesn’t have to pull its weight. As an Albertan, I find it frankly embarrassing that they are bringing this message to the international stage. Alberta has the potential to be a green energy leader and they could be doing so much better.”

The minister purportedly traveled to the climate conference as part of a short European tour to peddle the image of Alberta as an environmental leader. Ministers and delegates from around the world are gathered in Poznań to develop a new agreement to address global warming. ‘‘I can’t think of a more inappropriate place for Alberta to look for support,” says Canadian Youth Delegate Nicolas Nadeau, “it’s unbelievable that Minister Renner has the audacity to come to the climate change conference to promote the tar sands.’’

One young Canadian from Fort Smith, Heather Sayine-Crawford, said, “In our meeting, Minister Renner refused to acknowledge the evidence that toxins from the bituminous oil sands production are linked to increased prevalence of rare and fatal cancers amongst local residents, as well as significant adverse environmental impacts. We are preventing Minister Renner’s deceptively rosy view of the oil sands from being the only one seen by delegates”.

Today in Poznan, a showcase of the environmental damage caused by tar sands development, made of stunning large format photographs, was unveiled by the Canadian Youth Delegation. The display takes place in the main exhibition hallway next to the United Nations plenary rooms from Wednesday, December 10th till the end of the climate conference.

Youth delegates are available to speak about the display and their meeting with Minister Renner. Photographs of the meeting are available.

For more information contact:

In Poznan:
Rosa Kouri, Communications Team, (+48) 507 669 555, rosa.kouri@cydpoznan.org
Nicholas Nadeau, Communications Team, (+48) 510 735 407, Nicholas.nadeau@cydpoznan.org

The Canadian Youth Delegation is a non-partisan group of 26 young Canadians, seeking to engage Canadian youth to create positive change in the international climate policy process. It is a project of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Find out more at www.cydpoznan.org.