“Net-Zero Tyranny”

Ever since coming to power in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have fervently believed their climate change and carbon tax policies would make the Conservatives unelectable, as long as Canada’s official opposition party refused to come up with its own plan.

Under the Trudeau government of the last nine years, Canada has been locked into an extreme regime of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission controls meant to make Canada a “net-zero” emitter of GHGs by 2050, meaning Canada cannot emit more GHG into the air than Canada’s forests, agriculture and ecosystems draw out of the air on an annual basis.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith did not mince words over Ottawa’s new greenhouse gas emissions cap announced Monday.

“I’m pissed — I’m absolutely angry,” Smith said at a news conference.

“We’ve been working with these guys for two years because we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050 and they continue to act like they are working collaboratively with us — then they come out with exactly same policy they put forward a year ago, with no changes whatsoever and then trying to mislead the public about the true intent.”

A new cap on emissions in Canada’s oil and gas sector could eliminate over 112,000 jobs by 2040, with minimal environmental benefits, according to an analysis by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).

The think tank argues that the federal measure, set to reduce emissions by 35% from 2019 levels, will weaken the economy while having little impact on global oil demand.

OTTAWA – Oil and gas producers in Canada will be required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years under new regulations being published today by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

The regulations, still only in draft format and about two years behind schedule, could further strain relations between Ottawa and the Alberta government which recently launched a $7-million advertising campaign to “scrap the cap.”

Claws out!

The Department of Environment, led by Minister Steven Guilbeault, has highlighted household cats as a significant ecological threat to birds in Canadian cities.

Blacklock’s Reporter says a recent report, Green Cities: Benefits For All, raised concerns about tens of thousands of pet cats roaming urban areas and hunting migratory birds, which rely on city greenspaces for food and shelter.

A new report from Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator(IESO) suggests that electric vehicles and artificial intelligence facilities will drive a massive increase in demand for electricity in Ontario’s not-too-distant future.

The IESO estimates that overall electricity demand will grow by a projected 75% by 2050, which is higher than the 60% increase previously forecasted. The IESO attributes that growth in demand to a number of factors including industrial electric vehicle (EV) production and data centres (increasingly AI-driven).

The cracks in the legal rationale for the federal carbon tax are growing. New Brunswick’s outgoing Premier Blaine Higgs was right to keep chipping away at them.

Federal carbon tax “carve-outs violate the Supreme Court’s ruling,” New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Party said when Higgs announced he would launch a new legal challenge against the tax.