Stories of Canadians fleeing wildfires this summer haven’t fazed the CEO of Suncor Energy.
When questioned at a House of Commons committee appearance on Monday, Suncor CEO Rich Kruger said the oil industry isn’t any more responsible for the climate crisis than other parts of society and “plans to be around a long time.”
“It’s October and Canada is still burning out of control,” NDP MP Charlie Angus said. “How much responsibility is your industry willing to take for the destabilized climate and for the climate crisis that forced 200,000 people out of their homes this summer?”
Kruger replied that emissions and climate change are “complex” issues.
“We all have a role in it, whether that’s government and whether that’s industry and whether that’s society,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a [question of] what fraction is one party [responsible for] versus the other.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MPs tried to run interference for the CEO, attempting to interrupt Angus and issuing an apology to Kruger “on behalf of Canadians.”
Kruger was summoned to the committee after saying in August, in the midst of unprecedented wildfires in Canada, that Suncor needed to focus more on oilsands production to make money for shareholders today, instead of focusing on a transition to clean energy.
In years past, the company has made big promises about its renewable energy business, but recently sold off its wind and solar power assets and has increased its investments in Alberta’s tar sands.
Suncor is one of the 88 companies that researchers have said are disproportionately responsible for climate change. These companies’ emissions can be directly linked to more than a third of the damage done by wildfires in western Canada and the United States since 1986.
Before working for Imperial Oil and Suncor, Kruger was the president of ExxonMobil. That company knew about climate change in 1977 and worked to discredit climate science anyways.
On Parliament Hill Monday, Kruger refused to answer Angus’ questions about ExxonMobil’s suppression of climate science and about a Colorado lawsuit that seeks to hold Suncor liable for the impacts of climate change.
“It’s not just that we’re all part of this,” Angus told him. “You knew, scientifically, that what you were doing was destabilizing the planet.”
Conservatives apologize for tough questions
Other MPs on the committee did not seem to think the CEO had anything to answer for.
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs interrupted Angus when he brought up ExxonMobil’s early knowledge of climate change. She said she didn’t know what he was talking about because she was only a teenager at the time.
Her fellow Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer offered Kruger an apology “on behalf of Canadians” that he had to answer questions about wildfires, climate change, and Big Oil’s suppression of scientific research.
Stubbs and Patzer argued that Angus’ questions weren’t related to the motion the committee had adopted, which called on Kruger to appear.
Unfortunately for them, the motion was pretty clear.
It summoned Kruger to explain “why he believes that the only ‘urgency’ facing the oil sector is to make as much money as possible while increasing production.” It even called out Suncor for tripling its profits while laying off 1,500 workers.
The CEO, though, was defiant in his position.
“I think oil and gas has a long life ahead of it. It’s how we do it that will make it more socially acceptable,” Kruger said.
“We plan to be around a long time.”
I often hear that I’m lucky to have a full-time job in journalism.
Critical, bold journalism that isn’t beholden to media monopolies should be the norm—not the exception.
By supporting The Breach, you’re supporting a more robust, progressive media. Join us today.
– Katia Lo Innes, Associate Producer, The Breach
Climate Crisis | A group of B.C. towns want to sue Big Oil over the climate crisis
Climate Crisis | As Alberta burns, we need a political vision to extinguish the flames
Corporate Power | 5 things Canada could defund to pay for an epic just transition
2 comments
Comments are closed.
Canada’s contribution to climate change is miniscule. All of the big offenders are using coal fired energy and at least two of them are major suppliers to Canadians. Stop trying to put our natural resource industry out of business before places like China and the US reduce their coal production and usage. Maybe if they used Canadian NG they would reduce their emissions by 50% over their coal usage. Same thing with oil, if Canadian oil is impeded it strengthens the hand of all the corrupt dictatorships of the world to control the supply and profit from it.
The fact that we have turned natural resources into an “industry” says it all. Money, money, money: nice to have but not so good to eat, drink, or breathe.