Bolder climate action is needed in Canada

U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced that the United States will use the Defence Production Act to accelerate manufacturing of solar panels, power grid infrastructure, and heat pumps as part of the United States’ efforts to transition to clean energy. But despite having a Defence Production Act in Canada, the Liberal government has failed to even consider that kind of bold climate action. And they have continually failed to take action that matches the scale and urgency of the crisis. The most recent dire warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was clear: the world needs to rapidly move away from fossil fuels and make significant investments in renewable energy if we have any hope of securing a livable future. The technology is ready and available, and over the past decade the costs have decreased significantly. The International Energy Agency reports that wind and solar are the cheapest sources of new electricity generation in history, and costs continue to drop. But the Liberals have not made the investments needed to scale up clean technology at a rate that would protect Canadians. If we are going to meet our climate goals and avoid the most catastrophic and life-threatening consequences of the climate crisis, this government needs to triple its investments in renewable energy. If the climate crisis and the urgent need to fight for a livable future for our children does not convince you, then at the very least the economic arguments should. The oil and gas sector is already hemorrhaging jobs and people will continue to lose their livelihoods. If Canada doesn’t rapidly scale up the adoption of clean technologies, we risk being left behind in the global shift to a clean economy. We will be missing the opportunity to create good, long-term, sustainable jobs in communities across Canada. The David Suzuki Foundation’s recent report, Shifting Power: Zero-Emissions Electricity Across Canada by 2035, modelled clean electricity pathways. It found that Canada can reach 100 per cent zero-emissions by 2035 with renewables prioritizing wind, solar, energy storage and interprovincial transmission. Pursuing this renewable future at the scale required would create 1.5 million people years of direct employment between 2025 and 2050. Supporting over 75,000 full-time jobs each year. That’s not including additional jobs that could be created if wind turbines and solar panels were manufactured in Canada. A report by Climate Action Network Canada and BlueGreen Canada found that nearly three in four oil and gas workers have a direct skills match to alternate clean industries. Canada also has abundant wind and solar resources, a relatively mature renewable electricity industry, and is building momentum toward an emissions-free electricity system. Investments in renewable energy will help fight the climate crisis and create good, long-term jobs. Workers want to be part of the climate solution, but the Liberals are leaving them behind. The Liberals have made little progress on their promised Just Transition Act, and the Environment Commissioner found they lack a plan to support workers and communities to transition to a low-carbon economy Despite the clear evidence of the need to scale up renewables to meet the urgency of the moment and despite repeated promises to end subsidies to oil and gas companies that distort the market, the Liberal government has the worst track record in the G20 when it comes to public financing of the oil and gas sector. They are giving billions of dollars to profitable oil companies—while leaving Canadian workers behind. The world's top scientists are sounding the alarm and calling for real action, but the unfortunate truth is that the Liberal government continues to fail to answer this call. Continued subsidies to the oil and gas sector delay climate action and divert resources from the investments we need to make in renewable energy transition and support for workers and communities. This is our opportunity to meet the biggest challenge of our time, and it is now or never. Seth Klein, author of A Good War, reminds us that we need to move at a speed and scale not seen since the Second World War—that we mobilized then and we can mobilize now—to jump-start the needed transition and transform our economy. Canadians want ambitious action on the climate emergency. A climate-safe and more just future is possible; we just need a government with the political will to make it happen. NDP Laurel Collins represents the riding of Victoria, B.C. and is her party’s environment and climate change critic. The Hill Times