Contested notions of energy justice and energy futures in struggles over tar sands development in British Columbia, Canada
Emiliano Castillo Jara, Antje Bruns
Abstract
This paper explores the articulation and mobilization of competing notions of energy (in) justice and energy future visions in the struggle over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX) in British Columbia, Canada. The TMX is a controversial fossil fuel project because it leads to the appropriation of First Nations lands, gender violence, and the unequal distribution of the socio-environmental costs of tar sands operations. Despite these impacts, the Canadian state argues that the TMX contributes to economic growth, job creation, and increased tax revenues, thereby legitimizing tar sands expansion on Indigenous lands. Drawing upon literature on Indigenous climate/energy justice, we problematize conventional understandings of energy justice and energy futures by examining multiple, interconnected, and often neglected dimensions of justice in the TMX conflict. Through critical discourse analysis, this paper explores how First Nations opposing this pipeline mobilize different notions of justice to envision alternative energy futures. Our study shows how they challenge Canada’s fossil fuel future vision by asserting jurisdiction over the lands crossed by the TMX and demanding the cancellation of this pipeline. Centering counter-hegemonic perspectives in discussions about tar sands development provides a starting point for imagining and building more just energy futures.