• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Green Investment, Fossil Divestment Go Hand in Hand

April 5, 2018
Reading time: 2 minutes

Lydia Jacobs/Public Domain Pictures

Lydia Jacobs/Public Domain Pictures

 

Two of the most popular household strategies for promoting the post-carbon transition—divesting from fossil fuels and investing in clean solutions—will work best when they go hand in hand, and when the federal government joins individual Canadians who are already making the effort, writes Patrick DeRochie, climate and energy program manager at Environmental Defence.

In a recent guest post for CoPower Green Bonds, DeRochie challenges the Trudeau government to make the same moves on a much larger scale.

“Pushing for renewables and pulling back from fossil fuels are two strategies that need to work in tandem,” he writes. “On their own, neither will prevent dangerous climate change. Together, they’re a powerful tool for change.”

On a personal level, he explains, making the shift to green investments and thereby accelerating Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy can be made easier by consulting a knowledgeable advisor, or attending local green investment events. He states that SolarShare and CoPower Green Bonds “make up the impact portion of my investments”, helping to directly finance “the climate solutions I’m trying to accelerate—energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.” The rest of his savings “are invested in a custom portfolio built by Investors Group, and fossil-free exchange-traded funds like Genus Fossil Free.”

DeRochie explains that CoPower “offers me as an individual the same climate action roadmap that I expect of our governments: incentivize the clean economy solutions that enable a prosperous shift away from fossil fuels.” While acknowledging that “Canada’s federal government and most provincial governments are making notable progress” on the investment end of climate action, he pans federal reluctance “to tackle the other half of the equation: ending subsidies for oil and gas companies.”

“Preventing dangerous climate change requires an orderly phaseout of the fossil fuel industry and a just transition for workers and communities,” he notes. “But every year, Canada’s provincial and federal governments give at least C$3.3 billion in public money to oil and gas companies”—subsidies that the Bloomberg editorial board called out [subs req’d] as “the world’s dumbest policy”. DeRochie adds that those policies are anti-social, besides, “tak[ing] money away from other priorities like health care, education, and renewable energy.”

Those subsidies are profoundly undemocratic, as well, since they mean “that you and I as taxpayers have no choice but to finance the companies that contribute to climate change and pollute our water, air, and land,” he writes. In February, Environmental Defence launched a petition to shine a light on the average of $234 that each Canadian will give away to Big Oil this year through their tax returns.



in Canada, Community Climate Finance, Ending Emissions, Energy Subsidies, Oil & Gas

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Bernard Spragg/flickr
Energy Politics

$12.3B in Profit over 3 Months as Big Fossils Reject Federal Emissions Cap

August 11, 2022
2
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons
Hydrogen

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts

August 11, 2022
3
Protect The Planet
Pipelines / Rail Transport

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say

August 11, 2022
1

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
690
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
393
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

August 2, 2022
1.3k
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 9, 2022
203
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
372
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.7k

Recent Posts

Bernard Spragg/flickr

$12.3B in Profit over 3 Months as Big Fossils Reject Federal Emissions Cap

August 11, 2022
2
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts

August 11, 2022
3
Protect The Planet

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say

August 11, 2022
1

Focus Blame for Climate Change on Fossils and Governments, Ecoanalytics Advises

August 11, 2022
3
TheKurgan/Wikipedia

Ontario Pension Giant May Be Getting the Memo on Fossil Divestment, Members Say

August 11, 2022
1
@stan_sdcollins/Twitter

Stranded Communities Hope for Emergency Food Supplies as Newfoundland Wildfires Rage

August 11, 2022
3
Next Post
Department of Energy/Flickr

Time to Embrace Supply-Side Campaigns, Keep Fossils in the Ground, New Study Argues

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}