Petition to end fossil fuel subsidies

The latest parliamentary petition I've sponsored calls for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, and to support oil and gas workers as they re-skill or up-skill for jobs in renewable energy. Today's announcement of 1.7 billion dollars for the clean-up and remediation of abandoned oil and gas wells is a step in the right direction. Creating eco-restoration jobs in the short term is the first step towards a just transition for oil and gas workers. We must use every avenue available to us to encourage the government to continue in this direction, so I hope you will sign and support this petition.

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Whereas:

• 80% of fossil fuel reserves are currently being exploited globally;

• These reserves need to remain in the ground in order to stay below the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold and prevent catastrophic climate change;

• To lower our greenhouse gas emissions, we must transition away from our fossil fuel dependency;

• Countries must immediately stop investing in fossil fuel infrastructure heavily subsidizing the sector and offering stimulus packages to oil and gas companies;

• In Canada, the federal and provincial governments spend billions of dollars of Canadian taxpayers’ money to continue to prop up the fossil fuel sector;

• The latest cost estimate of the TMX pipeline totals $12.6 billion;

• The government subsidizes the fossil fuel sector with $3.3 billion on an annual basis;

• This subsidy not only impedes the transition towards a fossil fuel-free future, but also negates the purpose of the carbon tax; and

• Canada’s current climate targets were set by the Harper government in 2015 and it is approximately half of what must be done to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:

1. Update Canada’s climate action targets to reflect science and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2018 report;

2. Eliminate all subsidies to the fossil fuel industry;

3. Invest in a just transition for oil and gas workers;

4. Cease from purchasing, subsidizing or supporting any future fossil fuel infrastructure; and

5. Invest in clean, renewable energy and/or other climate, and socially conscious investment opportunities.

SIGN THE PETITION