Press Release: SES seeks intervenor status in climate action lawsuit
PRESS RELEASE
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
For immediate release
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society seeks intervenor status in local climate change litigation
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) is seeking intervenor status in a climate action lawsuit that could set important precedents in Canada. The case, launched by seven citizens and Climate Justice Saskatoon against the Government of Saskatchewan and SaskPower, asserts that in the face of a growing climate change emergency, citizens’ charter rights are being violated by the ongoing expansion of conventional natural gas-fired generating stations that release millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere. Through its intervention, SES intends to offer perspectives on energy alternatives that are reliable, cost effective, and would significantly reduce Saskatchewan’s greenhouse gas emissions.
SES plans to bring forward two outstanding witnesses in its intervention. Dr. Mark Jacobson has advised governments around the world on energy policy and demonstrated how every U.S. state could move to 100% renewable energy to meet their electricity needs. Dr. Brett Dolter, a local economist, has written several papers on modelling pathways to decarbonizing Canada, including Saskatchewan specifically, as well as the economic and financial implications.
SES is deeply concerned about greenhouse gas pollution in our province. The evidence that climate change has become an environmental and public health emergency is now overwhelming. If left unchecked, climate change endangers the future of human civilization and a great many other species. SaskPower’s failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a timely way is troubling, and its target to delay achieving net-zero emissions until 2050 does not in any way align with the recommendations of the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Every level of government in the world has a responsibility to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly.
For many years, SES has urged SaskPower to invest much more heavily in wind power, solar power, co-generation of electricity, small scale hydro, electricity efficiency and conservation, expanded interprovincial interconnections, and electricity storage technologies. SaskPower has an enviable record on many other fronts. It is a community minded corporation, a good employer, a company with a good safety record, and a company that has reliably met Saskatchewan’s electricity needs for a long time. However, its environmental record leaves much to be desired.
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