The YES agenda versus doubling-down on fossil fuels
Prime Minister Carney has said, “Don’t tell me what you are against; tell me what you are for.” Well, with respect to the first part – tough! Telling the truth about the climate emergency requires saying “No” to new fossil fuel infrastructure. But with respect to the second request – done!
Last week, Climate Action Network Canada (the national umbrella organization for the climate movement) released the outcome of an important new project – The YES Agenda: Building Canada’s Clean Energy Future. “Canada needs to build clean, renewable energy infrastructure that works for Canadian communities and Indigenous nations. And the solutions are at our fingertips,” states CAN. The Yes Agenda Project Explorer offers a coast-to-coast look at 110 solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, storage and transmission projects in development right now, tracking close to 100 GW of electricity generation. The mapping tool was developed by Climate Action Network Canada and Adamant, built on research conducted by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors.
More than half of the projects identified are led or co-owned by Indigenous Nations, while others proceed under provincial governments or public utilities. They represent billions of dollars in investment in clean, reliable electricity and will create thousands of jobs and make life more affordable for Canadians.
You can explore all the projects identified here.
“These projects can lower Canadians’ energy bills, boost our independence and ensure resilience to external shocks – whether extreme weather, volatile fuel prices, or the agenda of belligerent heads of state,” said CAN executive director Caroline Brouillette. “This vision is not hypothetical; it’s already happening. A different approach to nation-building is taking shape, and Indigenous Nations, communities, provinces and territories are leading the way. What we need is a federal government that invests in renewable nation-building projects rather than costly fossil fuel infrastructure that risks leaving Canada behind.”
Serena Mendizabal, managing director of Indigenous clean energy group Sacred Earth, said of the project, “There’s a lot of talk about nation-building right now. Our Nations have been building on and caring for these lands since long before Canada. Real nation-building means investing in the energy futures communities are choosing for themselves: power that keeps the lights on, keeps wealth in the community, and keeps the land and water whole for the generations to come.”
Gratitude to CAN for leading this important work.
But it’s still a hard NO to new fossil fuel projects
A few weeks ago, I published a piece asking if Prime Minister Carney is a climate denier. The answer, sadly, if there was really any doubt, is a firm: Yes!
While many of the projects on the YES Agenda are still seeking funding, Carney is ready to plow over $40 billion of public money into a new oil sands pipeline from Alberta to the BC Lower Mainland, now officially to be known as the “Pacific Link.” The true opportunity cost of this new monstrosity are all the clean energy projects that go languishing.
Two weeks ago, we were hit with the brutal double-whammy of LNG Canada (joined by the federal and BC governments) announcing it was proceeding with a final investment decision for its Phase 2, and two days later Carney announced that the Pacific Link was designated as the first “Project of National Interest,” meaning, it would be granted advance approvals and expedited forthwith. “The goal is to get consultations, environmental safeguards, financing and Indigenous partnerships completed by Sept. 1, 2027, to clear the way for construction to begin,” reports The Energy Mix. Pacific Link, if completed, will transport an additional one million barrels a day of bitumen for export from the west coast.
But, don’t give up hope just yet. The pipeline is not yet a done deal. There will surely be major protests. There will be significant Indigenous opposition (as reporter Brandi Morin reports here); already, the Cold Lake First Nation in Alberta has announced it is taking the government to court over its move to fast-track the project. And it remains unclear if a sufficient number of oil sands producers will commit to filling the pipeline.
Regarding LNG Canada Phase 2: While both the federal and BC governments were all smiles at this announcement, there is nothing to celebrate here. Combined, LNG Canada Phases 1 & 2 will have downstream carbon emissions roughly equivalent to the TOTAL annual domestic emissions for all of British Columbia. Phase 2 will only result in about 240 more permanent jobs. Seems an awfully heavy price in climate destruction for a number of jobs that, in the larger context, represents a statistical rounding error.
All these LNG announcements are wreaking havoc with the shattered remains of BC’s climate plan. Check out this chart, produced by Tracey Saxby (ED of My Sea to Sky):
Chart produced by Visual Science (Tracey Saxby)
As Tracey notes:
Since 2007, BC’s climate pollution has decreased by a mere 2.3 million tonnes.
In contrast, approved LNG export projects will increase BC’s climate pollution by 21.2 million tonnes by 2035.
This is ten times more pollution than we’ve managed to cut in nearly 20 years.
If we use public dollars to electrify all these LNG exports (which is not a good use of our clean energy), BC’s climate pollution will still increase by ~13 million tonnes.
But the above is only capturing the extraction and production emissions within BC. When the gas is finally burned overseas, add another ~130 million tonnes of climate pollution (for context, all of BC’s domestic emissions currently clock in at about 60 million tonnes).
As Tom Green of the David Suzuki Institute says, “We are exporting fossil fuels and importing extreme weather.” (BTW, if you’d like to hear a master class in climate communications, I highly recommend this CBC radio interview with Tom, reacting to both these new fossil fuel projects; give a listen).
So, friends, let’s say YES to clean energy. But let’s keep saying NO to the projects that threaten the people and places we love.