Public Comment to IAAC Proposed Centre Village CO₂ Plant from Sustainable Energy Group - SEG’s reasons for opposing the proposed 500 MW natural gas/diesel plant near Centre Village, Tantramar, N.B.

• Paris Accord - Canada signed the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming from human-controlled greenhouse gas emissions to prevent global warming from attaining 2ºC. Global warming, now at 1.5ºC, is accelerating. Having signed this accord, Canada formalized agreement to obey and enforce it. The Centre Village proposal contravenes the climate agreement by adding another new GHG-emitting fossil fuel plant. Failure to abide by the Paris Accord, Canada and the IAAC are very likely to increase the risk to present and future generations of an unliveable environment. Climate mitigation and adaptation are the logical and needed pathway to follow in the national and global interest dictated by the Paris Accord.

• Environmental Stewardship - This proposed 500 MW Natural gas/diesel plant near Centre Village, NB, is proof of failing human ‘environmental stewardship.’ As Earth’s dominant species, homo sapiens are both responsible and capable of stewarding and sustaining the interdependent natural world and biosphere. And yet, despite continuous warnings from scientific experts going back to Rachel Carson’s 1962 warning book, Silent Spring, the fossil fuel industry, along with compliant politicians, continue to recklessly neglect to preserve our home planet from human-caused irreversible harm. This has resulted in the accelerating climate emergency we are experiencing.

• CO₂ Plant is not needed - The proposed gas-fired power plant in Tantramar should not be approved, or funded, by N.B. ratepayers and taxpayers. SEG endorses the far more responsible alternative – the proposed Canada-wide electricity grid – if supplied mostly by renewable energy (wind-solar) with storage and inter-provincial distribution. The Canada-wide renewable electric grid, once operational, will most likely make the proposed ‘peaker plant’ superfluous to NB Power’s needs. Built correctly with the national grid being synchronized with a correlating buildup of onshore and offshore wind energy, New Brunswick will surely be positioned to benefit greatly from the national grid, as will all other provinces. Atlantic Canada has excellent offshore and nearshore wind farm potential that can provide constant electricity generating capacity to the grid. The national grid, along with wind energy development, will more than replace the 500 MW Centre Village fossil fuel plant with renewable energy. (Supporting research from the Maritime Regional Wind Energy Resources made by Dalhousie University in 2022, headed by Lukas.Swan@Dal.Ca (mailto:Lukas.Swan@Dal.Ca) )
 https://dalresl.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/maritime-regional-wind-energy-resources-final.pdf?force_download=true ( https:/dalresl.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/maritime-regional-wind-energy-resources-final.pdf?force_download=true) 

• American company and fracked gas – ProEnergy from Missouri, the proposed builder of the Centre Village gas-diesel plant, will provide their own fracked natural gas. The hostile-to-Canada U.S. Administration is central to this project. Therefore, Canadians should emphatically object to this project and oppose it, as should the IAAC and the Government of Canada.

• United Nations World Court Ruling – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague issued its Advisory Opinion July 23^rd, 2025. “The UN’s principal judicial body ruled that States have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and act with due diligence and cooperation to fulfill this obligation. This includes the obligation under the Paris Agreement on climate change (https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement) to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The Court further ruled that if States breach these obligations, they incur legal responsibility and may be required to cease the wrongful conduct, offer guarantees of non-repetition and make full reparation depending on the circumstances.” 

The ICJ used Member States’ commitments to both environmental and human rights treaties to justify this decision. Member States are parties to a variety of environmental treaties, including ozone layer treaties, the Biodiversity Convention (https://www.un.org/en/observances/biological-diversity-day/convention), the Kyoto Protocol (https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf), the Paris Agreement (https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement) and many more, which oblige them to protect the environment for people worldwide and future generations. But, also because “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of many human rights,” since Member States are parties to numerous human rights treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights), they are required to guarantee the enjoyment of such rights by addressing climate change.

Under international law as a UN member State and signor of the Paris Agreement, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UNDRIP, Canada is obliged to adhere to this authoritative and legitimate ruling by the Court. The ruling is a strong statement for action on climate change as an international legal obligation, and that states who fail to fulfill obligations under international treaties could be liable for climate related losses suffered by other nations. The Court grounded part of this legal obligation in the international treaties on human rights that recognize the right to a healthy environment as a human right.

For these reasons SEG expects the IAAC is to cancel or deny the Centre Village project.  

Sam Arnold. Coordinator

Sustainable Energy Group

110 College Street

Woodstock, N.B. E7M iK6

Canada

samarnold3@gmail.com (mailto:samarnold3@gmail.com)