Now is no time to build a pipeline
Recent extreme weather across the country is evidence of a warming world: heat waves and drought in central Canada, forest fires in British Columbia last summer, flooding earlier this spring in the Prairies or in the Maritimes. Temperature records have been set all over the world in recent weeks, from across Asia to the Middle […]
Northern Ontario offers insight into Canadian paradox
SAULT STE. MARIE, ONT.—For the past two weeks, I have been fulfilling a longtime dream, to cycle from Dryden, Ont., in the province’s northwest, to Toronto. When I arrive in the Toronto area at the end of this week, I will have cycled 1,700 kilometres. But it will also signify the last link in my […]
Deep-dive look: what a new Fisheries and Oceans minister means for the Liberals in B.C.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) decision to add another B.C. MP to his cabinet, and put him in charge of the Fisheries and Oceans file, may be a move to reassure B.C. voters concerned about the government’s purchase of the $4.5-billion Trans Mountain Pipeline that will boost oil tanker traffic near Burnaby, B.C., and […]
Carr to focus on council report, resource development in the North at ministers’ meeting
Ottawa wants to increase its share of non-emitting energy generation, and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is trying to make it happen. That goal is a big part of the Liberal government’s sprawling environmental plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions and move Canada towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy. In an email interview with The Hill […]
Can Canada get to 90 per cent non-emitting by 2030?
Energy: it’s a topic Canadian politicians can’t stop talking about. But the energy conversation is often framed around what we need to cut in the decades ahead—oil production, carbon pollution. Which is important, but what is missing is the equally important conversation around what we need to build. And build we must. The federal government […]
Canada’s potential future in renewable energy: Cannings
Recently, I travelled with Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr to the World Energy Leaders Summit and G20 energy meetings in Argentina. One of the main themes of these talks was the “grand transition” to a low carbon future. While there are political pressures to make this transition, pressures driven in part by the Paris […]
Renewable energy remains a minor source of energy
Abundant energy is the beating heart of our economy and society, driving the ongoing search for new energy sources. At one time, nuclear energy and then briefly fusion promised unlimited power at little economic or environmental cost. Since the 1970s, renewables from wind and solar power have held out the tantalizing prospect of lower prices […]
Will Canada meet its 2030 clean energy goals? Look to natural gas, electric cars, and carbon pricing for clues
The federal government eyes increasing the share of non-emitting electricity generation to 90 per cent by 2030—but will Canada get there? Probably not, according to experts who spoke to The Hill Times. But Canada may get close. Industry officials and researchers said the federal government needs to, at the very least, follow its low-carbon economic plan. They also […]
Canada should pursue generating more electricity with renewable sources, but there are many factors to consider
Last month, the Government of Canada’s newly created Generation Energy Council released its report on what Canada’s low-carbon energy future would look like over the course of a generation. The council provides a pathway to reducing our carbon footprint and suggests that “within a generation, countries like Canada will be using less fossil fuels, and […]
Energy transition may result in job losses, says renewable energy expert
As Canada transitions to a reliance on cleaner energy, the energy’s self-efficiency could mean the loss of future Canadian energy jobs, says one expert. “The fossil fuel economy is an employment-rich economy [compared to] the renewable economy,” said Warren Mabee, a Queen’s University professor who holds a Canada research chair in renewable energy development and […]
