Transitioning oil and gas workers into new industries will require a 'hands-on approach': researcher
‘You keep saying that we're going to transition, but what does that mean?’ asks one worker
Transitioning from oil and gas to more renewable energy sources is expected in Canada — but how we approach it will have a significant impact on the industry's workers, says an environmental researcher.
"So we can either manage that transition and do it in a way that is just for the workers in that industry, and the communities that are impacted," said Emily Eaton, an associate professor at University of Regina.
"Or we can do it in a completely chaotic and unmanaged way, in which case the fallout is going to be severe, especially for the jurisdictions that are digging in their heels in and trying to deny the reality."
Advocates have been calling for Canada to move away from oil and gas production for years, and are pushing for a just transition that would support affected workers. They argue that while transitioning away from a fossil fuel-based economy, subsidies should be made available to oil and gas workers to help them transition to jobs in other industries.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, announced his government would put caps on carbon emissions from the oil and gas industry, with an aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
"That's no small task for a major oil and gas producing country. It's a big step that's absolutely necessary," he said on Monday.
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Some workers in the industry, which is heavily concentrated in Western Canada, have heavily criticized the move — and they say it highlights a lack of preparation for a just transition.
"Just picking a date and saying that, 'OK, well, we're just going to do this — we're going to transition,' well, that's not a plan," said Tim Cameron, an Albertan oil worker who has relocated to North Dakota for work.
"That's what's unbelievably frustrating and hypocritical to so many of us in the energy industry…. You keep saying that we're going to transition, but what does that mean?"
Workers say they haven't been asked about next steps
Cameron says that the calls for a just transition have taken him and his colleagues off guard.
"The whole conversation about the just transition … that's a stunning thing to me, considering the fact that I don't know anybody in my community that's had the opportunity to have their input on what a just transition would even look like," he told Checkup.
While Cameron acknowledges there is a need to work toward reducing emissions, he argues that government announcements short on details only serve to scare away development in the sector.
Oilfields jobs are desirable for many workers because of the relatively high wages they offer — and policies that work toward moving the industry away from fossil fuels must acknowledge that, according to Eaton who researches natural resource economies.
"There's a suite of policies that we can look at to deal with fossil fuel workers, but ultimately we need to have a pretty hands-on approach that connects fossil fuel workers ... to work that is equally as good," she said.
Key to paving the way forward, Eaton notes, is an announcement by government that fossil fuels will be phased out.
"There's no way to get to zero, no matter how many offsets or credits or carbon sequestration we do, if we're not also phasing out fossil fuels."
Oil-adjacent workers must also be considered
It's not only those on the rigs that will be affected, however.
Eaton says that while focus is often on those working for oil and gas companies, workers in the communities around oil fields — many of whom are women, racialized or temporary foreign workers in the hospitality and hotel industry — should also be part of the equation.
"The feds have for a long time promised that they're going to be introducing a just transition act," she said.
"And what I'd like to see is also some attention to the workers in those more precarious industries that are attached to fossil fuels."
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For his part, Cameron says he's mulling a permanent move to the United States over worries that policy shifts will limit his opportunities.
"If the country doesn't really want you and it doesn't want the industry, why would I bring my money home and pay taxes and things there?" he said.
"There's way more work [in North Dakota] than there is people. It feels much like it did in Alberta 10, 15, 20 years ago."
Written by Jason Vermes with files from Matt Meuse.