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Abstract
In seeking to appease both environmentalists and proponents of Alberta’s oil and gas sector, the Trudeau government’s current approach to combined economic development and climate mitigation is fundamentally flawed. This essay advocates a new strategy aligned with proposals for a Green New Deal—major public investments in the communities hit hardest by Alberta’s economic downturn, aiming to develop the province’s low-carbon resources and create green jobs, yet made expressly on the condition of stranding fossil fuels.
Notes
Acknowledgements
This article is a revised and extended version of a two-part blog written for the McLeod Group. See Katz-Rosene, “Canada’s Oil and Gas Sector.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The Economist, “Climate Change Dominates Canada's Election.”
2 Admittedly, “Western Alienation” is an inaccurate label because much of the West Coast voted for the New Democratic Party. The strong band of support for the Conservative Party was reserved mostly for the Eastern half of British Columbia, and just about all of Alberta and Saskatchewan. See CBC News, “Federal Election 2019.”
3 Andrew-Gee, “Is the West Fed up?”
4 It is telling, for instance, that the majority government passed a resolution declaring climate change to be a national emergency on the very day prior to announcing final approval for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. See Snyder, “Liberal Government Approves $9.3B Trans Mountain Expansion.”
5 In short, the federal government’s plan to put a price on carbon was seen by many in Alberta as betrayal, a sign that Trudeau had sided with rich foreign environmentalists over the people of Western Canada. See Libin, “Enter Jason Kenney."
6 Donner, “No Party’s Climate Plan.”
7 Green, “It’s Time to Abandon Carbon Pricing.”
8 Jo Ilaqua, “Capitalism Kills"; Fotheringham, “Social Impacts of an Economic Downturn."
9 Markusoff, “The Death of the Alberta Dream.”
10 Gore, “Extreme Carbon Inequality.”
11 Zhou, “#Wexit Founders Are Far-Right Conspiracy Theorists.”
12 Bush and Lenmen, “Canada’s Changing Climate Report.”
13 Department of Environment, “Upagiaqtavut (Setting the Course).".
14 Bush and Lenmen, “Canada’s Changing Climate Report.”
15 Orr, “Hate Groups Mix with Yellow Vests.”
16 Saxifrage, “Wexit and Climate Pollution.”
17 Perry and Scrivens, “Uneasy Alliances.”
18 Keller, “Pro-Pipeline Convoy Overshadowed.”
19 Israel, “The Real GHG Trend.”
20 Purdon and Palleja, “Trans Mountain Pipeline.”
21 Mason, “Why a Pipeline Fight with Quebec May Be Looming.”
22 Do, “Justin Trudeau Says Environment and Economy ‘like Paddles and Canoes.'”
23 Environment and Climate Change Canada, “Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks.”
24 McCarthy, “Canada’s Oil Sands Producers Race to Cut Carbon Footprint.”
25 Semeniuk and McCarthy, “High-Tech Environmental Push Needed for Oil Sands."
26 Tasker, “Trudeau Cabinet Approves Trans Mountain Expansion Project”; Graveland, “Kenney Calls for Swift Approval.”
27 Rubin, “The Future of Canada’s Oil Sands in a Decarbonizing Global Economy.”
28 Kapelos and Tasker, “Cost of Trans Mountain Expansion Soars to $12.6B.”
29 Thompson, “Green Jobs.”
30 Steell, “Green New Deal Could Bring Prosperity Back to Alberta.”
31 For instance, see Calgary Green New Deal, “Calgary’s Green New Deal.”
32 Barrington-Leigh and Ouliaris, “The Renewable Energy Landscape in Canada.”
33 Fieber, “Could Selling Renewable Energy Be Alberta’s Next Big Thing?”
34 National Energy Board, “Provincial and Territorial Energy Profiles–Alberta.”
35 National Energy Board, “Electricity Annual Trade Summary–2018.”
36 Pembina Institute, “Economic Analysis Finds Clean Energy Future Is Cheaper than Gas.”
37 Carlyle, “The Benefits of Cattle for Carbon Storage"; Frick, “Approaching Organic No-till on the Canadian Prairies.”
38 Regeneration International, “Why Regenerative Agriculture?”
39 Sheehan, “Biofuels and the Conundrum of Sustainability.”
40 This would allow older equipment to be used without replacement, which itself carries significant ecological cost. For a look at biofuels innovation in Canada, see Blackshaw et al., “Alternative Oilseed Crops for Biodiesel Feedstock on the Canadian Prairies.”
41 Boychuck and Lewis, “Alberta Oilpatch Cleanup Would Provide Decades of Employment."
42 Morgan, “Alberta Ranchers, Farmers Furious."
43 Statistics Canada, “Analysis.”
44 Seskus, “Why Engineers in Alberta Think They’ve Found a Way.”
45 Pittis, “Alberta Leads the Way to Low-Carbon Transport.”
46 Brynolf et al., “Electrofuels for the Transport Sector.”
47 Friedman, “Innovation Energy: Canada Leads the Way."
48 Rieger, “New Tech Aims to Extract Lithium.”
49 Peyton and Keeling, “Extractivism and Canada 150.”
50 Graveland, “Kenney Calls for Swift Approval.”
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Ryan M. Katz-Rosene
Ryan M. Katz-Rosene teaches in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.