Climate strikers naive but have right to protest, say energy sector leaders

BANFF, Alta. — Oil and gas industry insiders say demands by organizers of Friday’s Global Climate Strike to transition swiftly away from fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewable energy are naive and unrealistic.

But the leaders reached on the sidelines of the Global Business Forum in Banff add they support the right of participants to draw attention to the issue and applaud their emotional commitment.

Hal Kvisle, chairman of ARC Resources Ltd. and former CEO of TransCanada Corp. (now TC Energy Corp.), says he supports people’s right to protest, but adds he wants his employees to show up at work when they are scheduled to do so.

He says the protests raise the “emotional urgency” of the situation but unfortunately don’t offer any solutions on how to end the current global demand for about 100 million barrels per day of oil.

Harrie Vredenburg, an executive board member for Project Reconciliation, an Indigenous consortium considering making a bid to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline from the federal government, says activists who want to stop new pipelines aren’t considering the negative impact on Indigenous communities who are counting on oil and gas development.

Earl Hickok, chairman and founder of Advantage Energy Services Ltd., says he believes the young people who are taking part in the climate change strike are being manipulated and misled by radical environmentalists but he supports their right to protest.

“Generally, emotionally, they want to make a change and I think that’s a positive thing,” said Hickok.

“Now, do I believe they are right and we should strike and stop the world and stop our economy and stop our way of life? No, I don’t. But I think their intentions are good.”

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2019.

Companies mentioned in this article: (TSX:TRP, TSX:ARX)

 

The Canadian Press

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