© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2024
In this edition of EcoNews, we invite you to add your voice to our citizens’ assembly participants’ statement calling for secure, sustainable and affordable electricity; we bring you our reaction to the federal and provincial budgets out this week (spoiler: big money for clean electricity from the feds, not enough from the province); we celebrate a major step toward protecting the world’s largest habitat, the wide and deep ‘high seas’; and, we share some good news on the climate and energy front: an end to LNG export talk in Saint John, the passing of a climate emergency declaration in Fredericton, and exciting news from our team working to replace exhaust-spewing diesel school buses with electric models.
Sign on to the New Brunswick citizens' roadmap to affordable energy
This week’s federal budget included massive investments in the technologies needed to transition off fossil fuels, but the citizens of New Brunswick have a plan to make sure people stay at the heart of climate action, too! You’ll remember that last month we held a virtual citizens’ assembly to better understand the policies, programs and support New Brunswickers want to see as society moves to a zero-carbon electricity grid. Participants didn’t disappoint, producing a Statement on Electricity Affordability that offers a roadmap for government and utilities to achieve a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity grid. Help amplify their message today by adding your name to the statement!
Federal budget lays track to zero-emitting electricity future but fails to signal end of fossil fuel age
By and large, your Conservation Council welcomes the 2023-24 federal budget unveiled this week, noting it shows some serious dedication—tens of billions worth—to scaling up renewables and building a clean grid. We’re urging the provincial government and NB Power to take the budget as an invitation to get charged up about zero-emitting electricity, particularly least-cost renewable energy, storage, and transmission, instead of more costly and risky nuclear or shale. But as renewables are phased in, we need to phase fossil fuels out, and we’re less enthused about some of the budget’s investment tax credits that could instead offer extra support to the oil and gas industry.
As Repsol folds LNG export project, it's time for realistic energy plans in N.B.
Let’s keep the good energy news rolling. After months of Premier Higgs trumpeting a liquefied natural gas export project in Saint John, Repsol, the company behind the city’s LNG import facility, scrapped the project March 17, saying bluntly that there is no business case for making the conversion to export. We welcomed this news by joining our allies at the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance to call on the premier to let his ill-advised shale gas development dreams go and turn toward the practical solution of developing a modern, clean electricity strategy for New Brunswick.
Baykeeper celebrates treaty to protect largest habitat on Earth
The word ‘historic’ is often used for events that don’t live up to its gravity, but this wasn’t one of those moments. Earlier this month, our Fundy Baykeeper celebrated the signing of the ‘high seas treaty,’ a United Nations agreement representing 20 years of exhaustive work from scientists, environmentalists, and champion countries. The treaty marks a major win for marine wildlife and ecosystems, providing a path to establish marine protected areas and limit the activities driving species loss and habitat destruction in the ‘high seas,’ the enormous area of the ocean that doesn’t fall within any nation’s jurisdiction but which is home to millions of species.
New Brunswick adding 20 electric school buses to fleet!
Our work to electrify New Brunswick’s school bus fleet is picking up steam—or, rather, electrons? The province will add 20 new electric school buses to its fleet this year, with the details on exactly where and when they’ll be operating promised in the coming weeks. This follows months of advocacy from our Climate Solutions team, including meetings with the Minister of Education and department staff to share our research into school bus electrification. On top of this, the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training is commissioning a study into the feasibility of electrifying the public school bus fleet across all Atlantic provinces. Let’s build on this momentum to get dirty diesel and gasoline school buses off the roads! You can help keep the pressure up on the provincial to go the distance for school kids’ health by signing our petition calling for a fully electrify school bus fleet by the end of the decade.
City of Fredericton declares climate emergency
We’re commending the City of Fredericton for unanimously voting to declare a climate emergency on Monday, March 27. The declaration was in response to a petition spearheaded by the Council of Canadians Fredericton Chapter and supported by 11 other organizations, including the Conservation Council, which called on the city to join hundreds across the world in declaring a climate emergency and recognizing the urgent need to move faster on municipal climate action plans. Congratulations to the CoC Fredericton Chapter and all residents who signed the petition and helped spread the word to make this happen!
We work hard to ensure a strong environmental voice is heard in the New Brunswick print, radio and television media. Here are the latest stories Conservation Council staff have been called upon for expertise, analysis and commentary.
March 29, 2023 — Louise Comeau, co-executive director, speaks with CBC Information Morning radio shows in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton about climate action items in the federal budget. Listen to the interviews here: Fredericton | Moncton | Saint John.
March 29, 2023 — The Conservation Council’s study on P.E.I.’s school bus electrification was featured heavily in a New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal article about the province of New Brunswick purchasing 20 new electric school buses and working with the other Atlantic provinces on a feasibility study into full fleet electrification. Read the article here (paywall).
March 17, 2023 — Comeau speaks with Global New Brunswick about Repsol abandoning plans to upgrade its Saint John LNG facility for export. Watch the video. Read the story.
March 17, 2023 — Comeau speaks with CBC New Brunswick about the need for Premier Higgs to turn the page on shale gas and LNG. Read the story.
March 16, 2023 — Moe Qureshi, manager of climate solutions, speaks with the Telegraph-Journal about the disappointing lack of wind or solar power representation at a recent energy symposium held at UNB. Read the story (paywall).
March 8, 2023 — Yours truly (Jon MacNeill) speaks with Radio-Canada about protecting our land, farms, water and bodies from ‘forever chemicals.’ Watch the video.
March 8, 2023 — Yours truly (Jon MacNeill) speaks with the Telegraph-Journal about the need for provincial action on radon gas in public housing. Read the article (paywall).
Recent press releases we’ve issued include:
March 28, 2023 — Federal budget lays track to a zero-emitting electricity future but fails to signal the end of the fossil fuel age
March 20, 2023 — Provincial budget an opportunity to take science seriously, protect the vulnerable and our water
March 17, 2023 — Time for realistic N.B. plans for economic, environment benefits
March 8, 2023 — New Brunswick needs to protect people from radon gas