November 30, 2023
FREDERICTON – Yesterday in the Legislative Assembly, Green Party Leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon presented a motion calling on the government to end fossil fuel exploration in the province and to make the transition to renewable energy.
“We are in a climate crisis, and it is no less than a threat to human civilization as we know it,” stated Coon. “We know that the burning of fossil fuels is the greatest contributor to climate change, responsible for almost 86% of carbon dioxide emissions this past decade.”
According to the International Energy Agency, there can be no new fossil fuel development if we are to reach net zero by 2050, while experts have said that the expansion of the fossil fuel industry is incompatible with the agreed upon 1.5-degree Celsius climate threshold needed to prevent the worsening and irreversible effects of climate change.
“Premier Higgs is once again showing he is yesterday’s Premier with yesterday’s ideas, intent on extracting even more fossil fuel out of the earth even as we hurtle toward climate breakdown,” Coon added. “Instead, let’s put an end to any further oil and gas development in our province.”
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