Energy Sobriety In The Canadian Rockies: Natural Gas Is Here To Stay
By Tilak Doshi
What a breathe of fresh air! Not only because it is in the mountains, the Canadian Rockies, with the spectacular backdrop of Banff, Alberta, to be specific. But also because it is refreshing that the triennial global gas conference IGRC2024 held in Banff last week headlined speakers who proclaimed the virtues of fossil fuels and their positive role in human flourishing.
In a world inundated with incessant claims by the legacy media of how the use of fossil fuels will bring about climate catastrophe, in 10 years or 100 years (take your pick), it was indeed exhilarating to hear so many voices—from indigenous leaders of Canada’s First Nations to CEOs of innovative businesses in the oil and gas sectors—who believed that Canada’s oil and gas riches bring about the possibilities of continued human betterment.
Will Alberta’s optimism in the outlook for Canada’s role in a growing global economy matter? Will the international gas conference held in Banff appear in the agenda of policymakers in North America and Europe preoccupied with “net zero by 2050” emission targets?
In August 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Canada in the hope that a G7 ally would step up with liquified natural gas exports to Europe to replace sanctioned Russian gas supplies. Germany faced the prospects of an energy crisis following the outbreak of the Ukraine war and assistance from fellow democracies was sought.
The visit by the hapless German chancellor was followed in January 2023 by that of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who also expressed an interest in buying more Canadian LNG supplies for his country beyond that already contracted with LNG Canada. This project is expected to come onstream in 2025. Japan too was in search of energy security in the wake of the Western-led sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports.
Alas, the response both G7 leaders got from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the leader of the world’s fifth-largest gas producer, was not to count on any new Canadian LNG supply. Mr. Trudeau found “no business case” for substantial increases in Canadian LNG exports. This is no surprise, given that the prime minister is better known for his climate change predilections than his business prowess.
As Matthew Lau put it in the Financial Post on Tuesday, Trudeau’s federal government “will spend massive sums on anything and everything in the name of climate change.” As an example, Mr. Lau points to a new project costing Canadian taxpayers over $20 million “that will focus on improving gender-responsive and climate-resilient agricultural practices” in Tanzania. As Mr. Lau states, it is anyone’s guess just what such practices are or how they might benefit Canadian citizens.
Danielle Smith was sworn in as Alberta’s 19th Premier on October 11, 2022. The oil- and gas-rich western province of Alberta has long had a difficult and antagonistic relationship with Trudeau’s Liberal government, arising from the perception that Ottawa’s climate polices are damaging Canada’s oil and gas industry.
Upon her win, Smith told a cheering crowd in Calgary: “Today marks a new beginning in the Alberta story. No longer will Alberta ask permission from Ottawa to be prosperous and free… we will not have our resources landlocked or our energy phased out of existence by a virtue-signalling prime minister.”
Leaders of the First Nations of Canada, invited by Timothy M. Egan, President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association, to address the conference, were as combative as Alberta’s premier in their call for the development of Canada’s natural gas industry.
Chief Darcy Dixon, leader of Bearspaw First Nation, was forthright in his views expressed at the conference: “The government of Canada has failed us at every level in its mandate to fulfil the Crown’s fiduciary and trust obligations related to the proper management of our oil and gas resources to our best interests for decades.” He refuses to let his people remain passive participants in the development of Canadian natural resources and insists on a full partnership.
As allies, Chief Dixon had the likes of two international guests to the conference. First is Magatte Wade, an entrepreneur who believes that free markets and economic freedom are the pathway for Africa to “leapfrog ahead.” At the Banff conference she emphatically pointed out how liquified petroleum gas (LPG), made available by the world’s natural gas exporters such as Canada, can play a crucial role in alleviating the approximately three million annual deaths that result from the indoor pollution caused by dirty solid fuels used for cooking in developing countries.
The second notable international speaker at the Banff conference was Christopher Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, a leading North American oilfield services firm. Not shy for words, Mr. Wright gained attention in a video uploaded to LinkedIn where he stated that “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
At the Banff conference, he re-stated his defence of fossil fuels, and called for “energy sobriety”. Asked what he meant by that term, he referred to the lockstep link between life expectancy and energy use. Two hundred years ago, it was all renewable energy, he points out. And life expectancy then was about 30 years. And now, with the intensive use of oil, gas and coal, it is over 70 years.
When Christopher Columbus thought he discovered the East and called the indigenous people in the Americas “Indians”, little did he know what would follow. The rest is history as they say.
But as we look to the future, the people of Banff—Canadians and the First Nations alike—seem quite resolute in using their natural resources as they see it best.
This commentary was first published at Forbes on May 24, 2024.
CO2 Coalition Member, Tilak Doshi, Ph.D., has worked in the oil and gas sector as an economist in both private industry and in think tanks, in Asia, the Middle East and the US over the past 25 years. His focus is on global energy developments from the perspective of Asian countries that remain large markets for oil, gas and coal. Dr. Doshi has written extensively on the areas of economic development, environment and energy economics.