Critics question Freeland’s claim Trans Mountain pipeline project commercially viable
Despite Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s announcement last week that the federal government would spend “no additional public money” on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, supporters and opponents of the deeply divisive project both say it is unlikely Ottawa can sell the pipeline without providing some kind of financial backstop to potential buyers. Freeland’s statement came […]
Regional concerns must inform ‘just transition’ legislation, say experts, as Wilkinson acknowledges energy worker anxiety
As the federal government embarks on a whole-of-government approach to climate action, with all eyes on the introduction of long-awaited “just transition” legislation to help particularly vulnerable workers adapt and retrain for the green energy economy, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson recently acknowledged the “anxiety that workers in some industries feel about the energy transition.” […]
Liberals eye carbon capture tax credit as key piece of net-zero plan, but critics see more fossil-fuel subsidies on horizon
Look to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to introduce a tax credit for carbon capture projects in this year’s budget, say observers, flagging that the credit’s final design will be a signal of just how much weight the government is putting behind the initiative. Supporters of the promised tax credit for carbon capture, utilization, and storage […]
Dyer should do his own reality check on nuclear power: Susan O’Donnell
Re: “Nuclear power: the missing piece of the puzzle,” (The Hill Times, Jan. 10, by Gwynne Dyer). Dyer suggests that anyone who believes that nuclear energy is not a climate change solution is out of touch with reality. His column was published days after former heads of U.S., German, and French nuclear regulation and the secretary […]
Toward a cleaner, greener future
OTTAWA—Since COP1—the first United Nations Climate Change Conference in Berlin back in 1995—the dialogue around our impact on the planet has gradually moved in the right direction, but action hasn’t followed suit. Carbon dioxide emissions released by global fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes have jumped from about 25 billion metric tonnes annually in 1995 […]
With mounting trade irritants and looming negotiations, the House Trade Committee faces a ‘time crunch’
A multitude of trade irritants and soon-to-start trade negotiations has left the House Committee on International Trade, which has had one meeting in the six months, with much on its docket while it breaks for Parliament’s winter break. The committee met for the first time in the 44th Parliament on Dec. 13—the first meeting since […]
Clean, co-operative resource development will secure our future in the North
When we negotiated the Nunavut Agreement 30 years ago, we had a vision for Nunavut as a vibrant, economically self-sufficient territory that leveraged its own resources. Our vision anticipated major development, as we had seen in other jurisdictions, and guaranteed Inuit a right to fully take part in this development. Institutions were created through the […]
There is an answer to avoid a climate catastrophe, so what are we waiting for?
The United Nations recently declared: “The evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions are choking our planet and placing billions [of people] in danger. We must act decisively now to avert a climate catastrophe.” Reading the words, I feel horror for our children’s future and frustration that the sense of urgency to take sweeping action seems […]
Moving from COP26 talks to action: sustainable forestry key to combatting climate change
More than 130 world leaders took a major step forward at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow by recognizing the importance of forests in the urgent fight against climate change. The leaders, representing more than 90 per cent of the world’s forests, have committed to work together to halt and reverse forest loss and land […]
Backtracking coal targets a COP26 failure, but summit still brings hope
LONDON, U.K.—Closing the two-week COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Nov. 13, Alok Sharma, the British president of the 197-country conference, declared “We’ve kept 1.5 [degrees Celsius] within reach, but its pulse is weak.” But he was close to tears several times in his closing remarks. That was not because the 40,000-delegate meeting was a […]
