Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am in support of this motion and that should be no surprise as I have supported other initiatives associated with greening the government previously. I believe that we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and that we all have to do our part. By we, I mean the Government of the Northwest Territories, other Canadian governments, each of us in this room, each of our residents. The Government of Canada, to me, in my estimation, are not doing their part and it seems that we have to show them the way. This is one of the ways that we can do that.
I think that the GNWT is actively working to lessen the impacts of climate change on the North. I think that going to a low carbon fuel standard is another opportunity for us as a government to put our money where our mouth is. It’s been said that the per person greenhouse gas emissions in the NWT are the highest in the country or pretty close to it. There are lots of valid reasons for that, but that does not excuse us from taking steps to lessen the impact that the greenhouse gas emissions will have on all of us. We’re the first to see and feel the effects of climate change and anything that we can do to reverse that trend, even a little bit, is a step in the right direction.
It’s widely acknowledged that oil produced from the northern Alberta tar sands creates three times the carbon dioxide pollution as does conventional oil production. They need machines for mining which are not needed in conventional oil production. They need natural gas to heat the bitumen underground that is not needed in conventional oil production. They have a need for hydrogen which they have to add to the bitumen, and the hydrogen has to come from natural gas. All those three things are extra additions to the production of carbon dioxide which are not necessary in conventional production.
The GNWT purchases millions of litres of fuel each year and we have the opportunity to influence the production of the carbon dioxide in our world through our fuel purchase. By buying low carbon fuel we’re forcing the oil producers to reduce their C02 emissions or chance not selling their product.
The end products of both conventional and unconventional oil are the same, it’s just how it got there that is different. This is not a different product that we’re talking about. We’re talking about whether it is fuel that creates a high amount of carbon dioxide in its production or conventional oil production which creates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide emissions. To me, it’s unlikely that our processes and our procedures will have to change very much. We already get most of our fuel from Asia and from the west coast, so I believe that we’re already using a minimal amount of dirty oil. I don’t think we’re going to have to change things much at all in our purchasing practices.
I fully support the actions that are called for in the motion: to do the necessary research, to consider the implementation of a low carbon fuel standard, to establish guidelines to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions associated with the fuels that we import. These are all rational, sensible actions and I fully support the motion and encourage all Members to support it as well. Thank you.