A board member with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society is disappointed following a recent verdict from the Court of King’s Bench.
Early last year, a group of concerned citizens filed a lawsuit against the provincial government and SaskPower, citing that the power company continues to build gas-fired power plants during what the group calls a climate crisis.
The provincial government has asked for a dismissal of the lawsuit
The Saskatchewan Environmental Society applied to be an intervenor in the case, both to argue against the case being dismissed, and if it isn’t dismissed, to present evidence that SaskPower should become much more ambitious when it comes to utilizing renewable energy and reducing its greenhouse gas pollution levels.
Peter Prebble says the Court of King’s Bench has ruled that the SES will not be allowed to make an argument as to why the case should be heard in court.
“We had five government lawyers arguing against our lawyer in court. The government clearly went to significant lengths, and spent significant public money, in an attempt to make sure we didn’t intervene at this stage of the case.”
However, Prebble still has hope, and says if the government’s bid to strike the case isn’t successful, they still may be able to be considered an intervenor in the original case.
“We think this climate change case is very important for the people of Saskatchewan and the witnesses deserve to be heard. We’ve got two outstanding witnesses that we want the court to hear. ”
One is Dr. Mark Jacobson, a renewable energy expert. The other is Dr. Brett Dolter, an economist.
Prebble says SaskPower’s greenhouse gas emissions are almost equivalent to the emissions of the entire province of Nova Scotia. Citizens Against SaskPower and the SES hope the court will tell SaskPower that they can’t keep building new fossil fuel power generation in the province.
He adds that there is potential for a King’s Bench hearing in October, but he doesn’t know for sure, and it would be hearing arguments for and against the dismissal of the case.
