The head of the Canadian Gas Association says the energy transition away from fossil fuels is driven by an extreme “sectarian” ideological mission.

Timothy Egan, president and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association (CGA), shared this view last month at a summit in Hungary hosted by far-right think tank the Danube Institute (which receives funding from the Batthyány Lajos Foundation, financed by the authoritarian regime). Hungarian government) and the Heritage Foundation, which drafted Project 2025 – the widely criticized policy plan that Donald Trump could use to reshuffle the executive branch and usher in a new era far-right governance.

During a eight minute speechEgan, whose organization represents major gas companies including Enbridge, TC Energy, FortisBC and others, failed to mention climate change during a conference focused on the energy transition. Rather than recognizing scientific reality Considering climate change as the reason governments around the world are pursuing an emissions reduction agenda, Egan instead said governments are “gambling” public money because of a “deeply ideological” stance. .

“We say we need to get to net zero, a sort of promised land where everything will work in perfect balance,” Egan said. “But it is the language of religion, not of commerce, and the fervor that animates it is more sectarian than religious.”

Egan spoke at a Danube Institute meeting last year, suggesting growing links between the CGA and the controversial think tank. The Danube Institute also invited Tamara Lich, leader of the Canadian Freedom Convoy, to its lectures, as well as reported by PressProgress.

The CGA did not return a request for comment.

Ties between Canadian Conservatives and the Hungarian government have been growing for years. As president of the International Democratic Union (an international alliance of right-wing political parties), former Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last year that he wanted closer ties between the two countries.

And last year, five Conservative MPs traveled to London, England, where they enjoyed Porterhouse steaks, Scottish smoked salmon and more. sparks ethical concerns. Details discovered by iPolitics I found the trip was sponsored by the Danube Institute.

The “cult” of fossil fuels

For Egan, government policies aimed at reducing emissions, which world-leading scientists say are key to reducing the catastrophic impacts of climate change, are ideological. Indeed, “it is presented as a moral obligation, as something we must invest in because not doing so poses a threat to our existence, and it is morally wrong to do anything else,” he said. .

“Thus, innovation involving hydrocarbons is often looked down upon and mocked,” he added. “How dare you support something that destroys humanity, when investments in wind, solar or methane reduction technologies are immediately applauded.”

Egan has also characterized himself as a free-market supporter, criticizing government subsidies for renewable technologies like solar panels and heat pumps.

The hypocrisy is astounding to Keith Stewart, senior strategist at Greenpeace Canada, who said the “fossil fuel cult” refuses “to recognize the harm it causes.”

“Why on earth is the Canadian Gas Association going to Budapest to discuss how to fight the green agenda? Stewart said, adding that Egan’s speech was “classic climate denial” where climate change is assumed not to be a problem in order to highlight the benefits of fossil fuels.

“This is a counterfactual that we don’t really need to consider in the real world because climate change is a problem,” he said. This is why calling climate change concerns “bigoted,” when in fact they are deeply rooted in science, should be “disqualifying.”

The CGA is a fossil fuel lobby group under investigation by the Competition Bureau of Canada for alleged greenwashing. Beyond its traditional role of lobbying in favor of the gas industry against environmental policies, the group also exercises significant influence with the federal government and was wiretapped by Natural Resources Canada to serve on a government task force responsible for making recommendations on the expansion of the hydrogen sector in the country.

Stewart says that because the fossil fuel sector is, for the first time, facing the real possibility of being replaced by cleaner alternatives, like heat pumps, the industry is “becoming more desperate in terms of policy” .

“Before they could rely on a few well-paid lobbyists taking people to lunch, now they’re moving to a large-scale press,” he said. “As they become more desperate, they become more extremist, and we (see) things like teaming up with the Heritage Foundation, which is part of the far-right ecosystem in the United States. »

The CGA currently lists 12 federal lobbyists who are advocating for an increased role for natural gas, including expanding the gas grid, using natural gas to power vehicles and securing government subsidies for the gas sector.

Beyond its official lobbyists, the CGA works to have influence with the Conservative Party of Canada of Pierre Poilievre. On the sidelines of this year’s Calgary Stampede, Egan assisted a $1,650 per plate fundraiser for the Conservatives, alongside representatives from Pathways Alliance, vice-presidents of Suncor, Cenovus, Canadian Natural Resources and Imperial Oil, as well as CEOs of Enbridge, Cenovus, TC Energy and Trans Mountain Corporation.

The CGA is also behind “front groups” to shape public opinion, Stewart said. One of these groups is Voices for energywhich displays ads on Google, in the New York Times and other outlets, while presenting itself as a platform for Canadians to “speak out” against municipalities taking steps to reduce or ban natural gas in order to “protect” the so-called ” energy choice” of people.

“Industry associations usually play the role of bad boy,” Stewart said. “The association says and does things that companies don’t want to get their hands dirty with, and have the head of the Canadian Gas Association go to a conference on climate denial and make a bunch of points Discussion of climate denial is something. he should have to answer for his membership.

In 2021, undercover Greenpeace activists, in a sting operation against Exxon Mobil, revealed that fossil fuel companies were using industry associations to attack climate science and government regulations. Posing as recruiters, the activists interviewed an Exxon lobbyist who admitted that the company publicly took positions it did not believe in, while working with “ghost groups” to undermine public support for climate action and using industry groups as “whip the boys» to avoid responsibility.