Recent political activity in the Maritimes and Ottawa resonate with this year's "Season of Creation."
Change to renewable sources
The New Brunswick Green Party Leader, David Coon, said his party would mandate NB Power to use 100 per cent renewable energy sources by 2035.
Coon said management at NB Power has been dictating energy policy to PC and Liberal governments for years. As a result, he said, there hasn't been any progress on energy efficiency or renewals. "What the rest of the world has been embracing has been blocked here in New Brunswick," he said. Coon blamed NB Power for wasting $13 million on Joi Scientific, a Florida-based company that claimed to be able to efficiently generate hydrogen gas from seawater to generate electricity on demand, something that would be a major scientific breakthrough. Coon also committed to providing zero-interest loans for solar panels and energy efficiency measures such as new insulation and windows.1
In December 2019, Richard Dewey, President and CEO, New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), wrote that New York State, the 11th-largest economy in the world, recently enacted the US’ most aggressive climate change legislation. By 2040, according to the new law, the state must get all of its electricity from zero-emission sources. How does a state of 19.8 million citizens, which in 2018 generated more than 40% of its energy from fossil fuels, reach zero emissions in only two decades? A carbon-pricing proposal from the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) can play a significant role - as new research by the Analysis Group has concluded.
The report by the Analysis Group, commissioned by NYISO and co-authored by energy policy and economics expert Susan Tierney, concluded that our carbon-pricing proposal can help New York State meet its clean energy goals faster and more cost-effectively while reducing emissions and maintaining grid reliability. The report also found that carbon pricing can: (1) Reduce the consumer cost of reaching 100% carbon-free emissions: (2) Help grow investment and innovation in clean energy generation: (3) Promote innovation and energy efficiency in fossil fuel-burning technology: (4) Improve public health by encouraging the retirement of the highest-emitting generators: (5) Affirm New York’s position as a national leader on climate change2
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will unveil an “ambitious green agenda” in the throne speech scheduled to be delivered later this month. Western Canada has been especially hard-hit by the pandemic as travel restrictions have sent global oil prices tumbling. Trudeau said green recovery is about “long-term recovery,” and that the country needs to be “leading the way” on the shift to renewable energy and addressing the climate crisis.
He said the path forward must include people working in industries that will be affected by such a shift, but that Canada should seize the opportunity that COVID-19 has created. “We have an opportunity to go green. We have an opportunity to be fairer, to reduce barriers for women’s participation, (and) Indigenous participation in the workforce,” he said. “There are so many things that we can look at as an opportunity through this tragedy of COVID to do bigger things.” The green agenda will be presented to Parliament later this month, he added.3
Support for politicians who recognize our concern about climate change is action we can take to bring change.
References
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