Juno News - February 11, 2024


Energy CEO reacts to NDP bill to jail oil and gas advocates


Episode Stats

Length

6 minutes

Words per Minute

193.87428

Word Count

1,209

Sentence Count

3


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 you're tuned in to the andrew lawton show
00:00:05.920 uh it's fitting although it was not anticipated before i saw this bill from charlie angus that
00:00:13.460 we have on michael binyan who we started this series with and and now we uh inadvertently
00:00:19.060 get to end it with him as well uh from the modern miracle network michael it's always
00:00:23.360 good to talk to you thanks for coming on today glad to be here i'm actually down in in houston
00:00:28.500 and the nape show so big big oil and gas conference and i've just managed to get out i don't think i've
00:00:34.060 got the perfect quiet place but i'm but i'm happy all right well we'll we'll take in the uh the
00:00:38.880 sites of houston where i would much rather be from a weather perspective right now i just this bill
00:00:44.360 that has been proposed i mean it's bonkers and most private members bills don't get a a hearing and and
00:00:50.520 are unlikely to pass but but it reflects i think an attitude which is very pervasive among people
00:00:57.520 that do have tremendous influence here and i just wanted to get your take on this first i mean is
00:01:01.780 this have you ever heard of anything going after your industry as aggressively as this you know this
00:01:08.780 they've been signaling this idea for quite some time that somehow fossil fuels are similar to
00:01:13.940 cigarettes and of course this whole bill is patterned on the the you know the advertising
00:01:18.460 and warning labels and everything that has to go on on cigarettes on on the basis that i think that
00:01:23.360 there was back in the 70s or whenever there was in fact uh some cigarette companies that were caught
00:01:29.020 doing some uh promotion of their product without maybe talking about some of the risks of their
00:01:33.840 product so i think that's the analogy they're trying to create the problem the problem that i have with
00:01:38.620 this bill is one is the whole preamble is based not on mainstream science like as the international
00:01:44.020 panel on climate change doesn't agree with almost everything in their preamble this is a
00:01:48.860 this is a extreme extreme view of apocalyptic uh apocalyptic warnings about the possibility of
00:01:56.140 climate change which i don't as i said the mainstream science i don't think agrees with
00:01:59.520 the other thing is fossil fuels have saved millions and millions if not billions of people
00:02:04.340 uh and made everybody's life better we it it it's net very positive for human health as we've seen
00:02:10.800 and you know since we started using fossil fuels in the 1800s and in child mortality rates and
00:02:16.200 longevity and and health outcomes and equality all these all these things are literally miraculous
00:02:21.960 in society and so that that obviously is completely different than the cigarettes um and and then i
00:02:27.640 guess to finalize it i think you know if they were to go ahead with what they're saying to say
00:02:31.000 you know you're not allowed to say that natural gas has less emissions than coal because that would be
00:02:38.820 promoting a fossil fuel well the environmental damage of not being able to pick the best fuel and the
00:02:44.920 best energy in its best place has been already well demonstrated for example by our project in
00:02:49.800 quebec where you know hundreds and thousands of megatons have have you know would have been saved
00:02:55.680 if only would have been allowed to go ahead with a fuel that is that has lower environmental impacts
00:03:00.080 it's all it's like you said at the beginning it's bonkers yeah and and i would point out as well
00:03:04.720 when with that tobacco comparison that this bill doesn't go after deceptive advertising can i be i'd be
00:03:10.080 completely on board with some uh measured regulation on deceptive or dishonest advertising this goes
00:03:15.980 after truthful uh advertising and promotion of the sector and and one that that i find particularly
00:03:21.680 jarring especially for charlie angus who's from northern ontario and and should know indigenous
00:03:26.400 communities quite well is that you cannot even promote how these projects can benefit indigenous
00:03:32.960 people and i've met through through introductions from from you uh indigenous advocates for the energy
00:03:38.240 sector that don't just support it as a canadian economic project but specifically for indigenous
00:03:43.040 communities and these people could literally be jailed for having these same conversations publicly
00:03:49.360 i know you know i i've often said that the problem with the energy debate that we've had
00:03:53.840 and this is you know this is our one of our modern miracle network uh messages is we've been for too
00:03:59.040 long comparing the benefits of one kind of energy alternatives with the negative impacts of another kind of energy fossil
00:04:05.920 fuels but what about the benefits of fossil fuels which literally are miraculous and and why are we
00:04:11.760 not talking about some of the impacts of alternatives which are pretty large like and i and i and we're we're
00:04:17.200 we're all of the above and put the best energy in its best place but we're also for a reasoned conversation
00:04:22.800 on energy where we talk about benefits and the impacts not just one or the other and and as you said
00:04:28.800 this bill would say we're going to make it illegal illegal to talk about the benefits of fossil fuels
00:04:34.080 yeah i mean i mean your entire initiative at modern miracle network is to promote the miracle of
00:04:41.440 hydrocarbon so so you're you and your board are getting thrown in the slammer when this bill passes
00:04:46.320 if it passes right well if we were to dare to advertise i guess it's yeah it's crazy right it's it's
00:04:51.760 crazy anyway so we're we're trying to promote i think a rational conversation not not to ignore the
00:04:58.400 impacts that fossil fuels are just the opposite we're we're big promoters of of technology to to
00:05:04.400 deal with the impacts of fossil fuels but we're just saying let's not throw out a product that has
00:05:09.280 created the miracle of modern society with you know without any thought or or consideration and by the
00:05:14.720 way as we're looking at you know the impacts of of alternatives in terms of um landscape and i mean
00:05:21.760 they're the worst energies there are in terms of land use and materials use per gigajoule or
00:05:27.840 kilowatt of energy and so you know there as i say wind and solar you've got some work to do to really
00:05:34.400 become a uh environmentally friendly energy and by the way so do fossil fuels we've got a lot of work
00:05:39.920 to do too so uh let's let's have that honest conversation about the work that we need to do
00:05:44.880 and let's have an honest conversation about the benefits that are brought to people yeah and and
00:05:49.280 that's the thing i mean if you want to talk about the negatives in your eyes fine with me but no one
00:05:53.600 should be barred from discussing the positives as well so uh well said i'll let you get back to your
00:05:58.080 conference there michael but always good to check in with you thank you so much for coming thanks
00:06:02.560 for listening to the andrew lawton show support the program by donating to true north at www.tnc.news