The safest gas is the gas that remains underground

Dear Premier Susan Holt,

As a resident of New Brunswick who enjoys its many little treasures, I am deeply concerned that your government is considering the resumption of natural gas development, specifically fracking of shale gas.

Thirteen years ago, New Brunswickers organised one of the largest grassroots movements in our province’s modern history to say a categoric “No!” to fracking. Even then, scientific research pointed to risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, including seismic activity, water contamination and threats to water security.

Today, your government says that we need additional revenues, “energy sovereignty,” and that technological advances have made fracking safer. These arguments look backward rather than forward. The defining challenge of our time is climate change, and every major decision about energy infrastructure must be evaluated against that reality. With the resumption of fracking, you’d be signalling that the expansion of fossil fuel extraction remains compatible with addressing the climate crisis.

Whether fracking is somewhat safer today than it was a decade ago is no longer the central question. The real question is whether investing in new fossil fuel extraction remains the wisest course when cleaner, more affordable, and increasingly reliable alternatives are available. The safest gas is, ultimately, the gas that remains underground.

There is much room for disagreement on the amount of actual economic benefits for New Brunswick from extraction of natural resources. A number of well-known schemes are used by the province to attract corporations here. They include fiscal incentives and subsidies offered to these companies. In the past, royalty plans have been calculated to maximize the companies’ profits at the expense of the province’s. Furthermore, the bills for incidentals (big and small) such as cleanup costs, accidents, water shortages, etc. inevitably become part of public expenses.

Why would we sink more public money into an infrastructure (e.g. fossil fuels) that will become obsolete before long, instead of investing in one that is turned to the future and that would already be easier on our public finances? We should invest in a proven renewable energy grid. Solar farms, solar panels and battery banks are now, by far, the best bang for the buck. It’s not a concept or a projection. It’s a reality in major parts of the world, including in leading economies such as China. We just need to look at their reports for real world figures.

Lastly, why would we invest in a “fossilized” industry that would make New Brunswick further rely on American companies and interests to do the extraction while the U.S. government chokes the life out of Canadians with punishing tariffs? Instead, renewable energy can be an entirely Canadian enterprise, and a much better choice for humanity.

Luc Walhain is Associate Professor of History at St. Thomas University.