Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Protection Program coordinator at CCNB, spoke with media in response to the report from the New Brunswick Commission on Hydraulic Fracturing.
Read our official statement, our press release and our commentary on the report.
Merrill told Global News that the report challenges New Brunswick to begin the transition to a low-carbon economy.
She said the Commissioners outlined several actions the government must take in order to consider proceeding with fracking, but noted that, “until those things are done, there’s no conversation about shale gas development in New Brunswick, and by that time we’ve moved on (to jobs in energy efficiency and clean energy technology).”
Merrill made similar comments in another Global News story.
Speaking to CBC, Merrill said the recent Paris agreement on climate change also makes development unlikely.
Even if the New Brunswick government adopts all the commission’s recommendations, Merrill said that “by the time that rolls around, given the work that’s to be done plus the market conditions and the price of gas, we’re talking years, potentially decades out. And by that time this conversation … will be over. We’ll have turned the page (toward energy efficiency and clean energy jobs).”
In article published Tuesday, March 1 in the Woodstock Bugle-Observer, Merrill said, “by the time the work is done to fix our regulatory system, fix our relationships, we’ll have moved on to efficiency, renewables, and the cleantech sector to create jobs.”
A Canadian Press story published Friday, Feb. 26 in the Globe and Mail quotes Energy and Mines Minister Donald Arseneault’s reaction to the report, with the Minister saying “it confirms putting … a moratorium in place was the right policy to make.”
A version of this story appeared in more than 30 Canadian media outlets, reaching from Halifax to Victoria Island, B.C.
