Canada energy groups remove online content over new ‘greenwashing’ law

Two top Canadian oil and gas lobby groups said late Thursday they were forced to remove content from their websites and social media platforms because of a new law they claim seeks to silence their members in touting their progress fighting climate change.

The new law known as Bill C-59, which passed its final vote in Parliament this week, would force companies to show proof of their environmental claims.

Pathways Alliance, a group that includes Canada’s largest oil sands producers including Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU), Cenovus Energy (CVE), Imperial Oil (IMO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) and MEG Energy (OTCPK:MEGEF), said C-59 “will create significant uncertainty for Canadian companies that want to communicate publicly about the work they are doing to improve their environmental performance, including to address climate change.”

Pathways has proposed a C$16.3B (~US$12B) carbon capture and storage project to reduce emissions from oil sands production by 22M metric tons by 2030 with the goal of becoming a net-zero emitter by 2050; the group’s website previously said “Canada’s oil sands are on a path to reach net-zero emissions from operations,” but this has been removed.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said the effect of the new law will be to “silence the energy industry and those that support it in an effort to clear the field of debate and to promote the voices of those most opposed to Canada’s energy industry.”

Suncor Energy (SU) slammed the law, saying “Creating a public disclosure standard that is so vague as to lack meaning and that relies on undefined ‘internationally recognized methodology’ opens the door for frivolous litigation, particularly by private entities who will now be empowered to directly enforce this new provision of the Competition Act.”

Prime Minister Trudeau said the law is about ensuring that “people are debating and discussing and basing their world view on things that are anchored in truth and reality,” while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the measures are meant to “intimidate boards and shareholders, silence debate, and amplify the voices of those who oppose” the energy sector.