Instead of fracking, an environmental group says the province should expand onshore wind energy to boost economic development.
A new bill by the PC government is turning back the clock on environmental policies, says Thomas Arnason McNeil, the senior energy coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre.
He says the province should expand greener forms of energy instead, like onshore wind.
“We have an enormous opportunity when it comes to things like offshore wind, as well. We have some of the best wind resources in the world,” says McNeil.
The province introduced a bill in the legislature on Tuesday that would lift a ban on fracking that’s been in place since 2014.
In recent weeks, the Premier has been very vocal about his desire to lift the ban on fracking, saying it will boost the economy.
PCs expected backlash
For weeks, the Premier’s Office has been denouncing environmentalists as so-called “special interest” groups. Both a paid advertisement on the front page of the Chronicle Herald and the throne speech from Friday claimed that environmentalists were holding back the province from developing the economy.
That’s a ridiculous accusation, according to McNeil.
He says calling people “special interest” groups when they want a greener economic future for the province is “an opinion that is detached from reality.”
McNeil says he’s also spoken to business leaders who wished more people knew about the job opportunities in the wind energy field.
“I’ve spoken with people who work as wind turbine technicians that have said to me, you know, ‘I wish more people knew that these jobs existed,’ and talked about the fact that they’d gone out to Alberta, that they were miserable there,” said McNeil.
“What they want is a job at home in Nova Scotia and not to have to leave their community.”
Government should focus on onshore wind
He also says offshore wind is a massive area of economic opportunity. The province could become an energy superpower, exporting extra energy generated from wind turbines to the rest of the country.
But first, the province needs to improve transmission and power lines to make that possible, he said, which is what they should do instead of fracking.
Fracking leaves a lot of toxic water behind, which could affect the soil around the area, and that’s concerning, he says, because most people in the province rely on well water.
The province has said they will only drill for natural gas in a safe way that adheres to all of Nova Scotia’s environmental safety laws.
He says the government was very focused on developing onshore wind ahead of the fall election, and this pivot feels like it’s come out of nowhere.
“The decision to now suddenly open the floodgates with no warning and no popular support, I think, is frankly a slap in the face to the voting public,” says McNeil.
