The Conservatives came to the defense of the CEO of Suncor on Monday, while the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party insistently questioned Rich Kruger on his recent controversial statements and his desire to reduce the carbon footprint of the sand giant bituminous.
According to Suncor CEO Rich Kruger, trying to limit or cap oil production in Canada to combat the climate crisis is a waste of time.
“If we choose to produce fewer barrels, the world will not consume less oil,” he indicated during his appearance before members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Commons.
Questioned by MPs from the main political parties, he however mentioned on Monday that his recent comments had been misinterpreted, that his company will continue to invest in the renewable energy sector and that it is still determined to decarbonize its production by 2050.
To achieve decarbonization of oil production, Suncor and other Canadian oil companies are banking on carbon capture technologies.
The CEO of Suncor is counting on financial assistance from the federal government and certain provinces to develop them, because these technologies will not be profitable, according to him, without government assistance.
“The costs associated with decarbonizing the gas and oil sector are enormous, we are talking about 24 billion in investment. Who are you going to pass these bills on to, consumers? », asked Bloc MP Mario Simard to Rich Kruger.
” It depends. Does it add cost? Absolutely, but can we find a way to offset this cost to maintain competitiveness? That’s the question,” replied the Suncor CEO.
The Bloc MP questioned the Suncor CEO’s desire to truly decarbonize his company and also asked Rich Kruger if Kruger agreed with the new Clean Fuels Regulations, which require fuel suppliers to fossil fuels are gradually reducing the carbon intensity of their product.
“I haven’t studied the regulations in my six months working here, but we follow all the regulations,” Rich Kruger said.
Mario Simard responded that either he didn’t care enough about climate change to pay attention to regulations, or he was a bad manager. Rich Kruger countered by saying he was aware of the regulations, but simply hadn’t looked at them in detail.
This tough exchange during which the Bloc MP suggested that the oil industry could engage in greenwashing provoked the reaction of Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs, who cut Mario Simard off by indicating that he did not seem cannot differentiate between greenhouse gas emissions produced upstream, during oil extraction, and those produced during combustion.
“The day the Conservatives stop behaving like lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry, they will be able to speak,” Mario Simard told the chairman of the committee, the Liberal George Sahal, who called the members to order.
Earlier, Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs also tried to prevent NDP MP Charlie Angus from asking certain questions to Rich Kruger, who was vice-president of Exxon, before his hiring by Suncor.
“How much responsibility is your company prepared to take” for the impacts of climate change in Canada, asked Charlie Angus, indicating that Exxon has long hidden from the public that it knew of the causal link between the production of oil and the climate crisis.
“Can we stay on the theme of today’s motion? “, the conservative then asked the chairman of the committee.
Charlie Angus continued on the same subject, noting in particular that at the time when Rich Kruger was vice-president of Exxon, the company had issued a press release indicating that it was not necessary to take action to counter the climate crisis and that “global warming will reduce the mortality rate”.
Rich Kruger defended himself by saying: “If you want to talk about Exxon, I can’t answer you because I don’t work for them anymore.”
After Charlie Angus’ intervention, Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer apologized to the CEO of Suncor, on behalf of Canadians.
“I would like to apologize on behalf of Canadians for the time you wasted here today,” he said.
According to Liberal MP for Calgary-Skyview, George Chahal, who was recently elected chair of the Natural Resources Committee, this meeting was intended to provide some clarity on Suncor’s plans and the recent comments of its CEO.
After the appearance of the CEO of Suncor before the committee, the climate-energy analyst at Nature Quebec, Anne-Céline Guyon, declared that it is clear that the industry cannot be trusted to take responsibility.
“For those who still doubted it, it is clear, the oil companies say it verbatim, they plan an increase in oil and gas production in Canada”, while “science shows us that we must stop burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible “.
For Nature Québec, “the testimony [of the CEO of Suncor] shows how important it is to impose firm regulations” regarding emissions from the oil sector.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is expected to release draft regulations later this fall setting a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas, then reducing that cap over the next decade.
The oil and gas industry accounts for more than a quarter of Canada’s total emissions and the country cannot meet its climate goals without significant reductions in emissions from the sector by 2030.
