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Teck committed to support transition to low-carbon economy
Letter to the Editor
Re: Response to: ‘It’s time to start planning for a post-coal future’ published May 23.
Regarding the recent letter to the editor ‘It’s time to start planning for a post-coal future,’ it’s disappointing to see Wildsight advocating an end to responsible steelmaking coal mining in the Elk Valley and the over 4,000 direct and 11,000 indirect jobs and critical economic activity those operations generate for the region.
Everyone at Teck is committed to environmentally and socially responsible mining with our ultimate goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. Our employees take great pride in mining a product that is essential for our society and for the low-carbon economy of the future. The use of steelmaking coal by our customers does generate greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, steel and the steelmaking coal used to create it are needed to build infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, as well as clean energy projects like wind turbines and solar panels. Continued responsible production of these metal and mineral products is essential to the global effort to address climate change.
Teck’s steelmaking coal has among the lowest carbon intensities in the world and all of our Elk Valley operations are covered by carbon pricing, something Teck supports and continues to advocate
for. Although there are other potentially less carbon-intensive steel production processes under development, these technologies will likely not reach large-scale commercialization for decades and will not meet demand from the steel sector, which is also working hard to reduce emissions. This gives Teck’s steelmaking coal a carbon advantage that ultimately supports global climate action objectives.
We are also putting significant resources into achieving the objectives of the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan to ensure water quality is maintained in the valley. By this time next year we expect to have capacity to treat 47.5 million litres of water per day, which will achieve further significant reduction of selenium and nitrate downstream. Through 2024, we are investing $1.2 billion in water management alone. At the same time, we continue to work to advance reclamation of mine areas to restore wildlife habitat and ecosystems.
We know that addressing environmental challenges in the Elk Valley will require hard work. We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively to ensure the environment is protected while also ensuring the economic benefits from our operations continue to benefit society into the future.
Teck is committed to doing our part to support the world’s transition to a low-carbon economy, advancing responsible mining, and providing the jobs and economic activity necessary for Elk Valley communities to thrive for decades to come.
Marcia Smith,
Senior Vice President, Sustainability and External Affairs,
Teck Resources Limited