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LATEST NEWS ON THIS TOPIC

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts
As the global push for a hydrogen economy accelerates, researchers are urging policy-makers to address new knowledge and fill in some profound data gaps, with recent studies revealing the considerable global warming potential of a fuel that many fossils see as their industry’s best hope for a second life.

Ontario Gains from U.S. EV Tax Credit, But Plans No Incentives for Local Drivers
Plans to expand the proposed U.S tax credit on electric vehicle purchases to cover North American-made cars are a boon for the auto sector, says Ontario’s economic development minister, but the province still isn’t planning any buyer incentives for local drivers.

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production
Heat waves and drought in France are adding to Europe’s energy crisis which began when Russian invaded Ukraine—but the decline in the French electricity production is not just a temporary blip. France’s nuclear industry is in serious trouble.

Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal
Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity turned up the heat on swing-vote senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, a wider network of business groups stepped up to defend the deal, and environmental justice campaigners decried concessions to oil and gas as advocates absorbed the details of the $369.75-billion climate and clean energy package announced last week by Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer.

Canadian Construction Giant Expects $800 Million in Solar Project Revenue
Alberta-based PCL Construction’s 2021 solar construction revenue increased 60% over the previous year, totalling more than half a billion dollars. By the end of 2022, the company expects solar revenue to hit just under $800 million.

Analysis: Lax Offshore Oil Regulation Puts Atlantic Canada Ecosystems, Communities at Risk
Offshore oil and gas activities in Atlantic Canada are a genuine threat to the ocean ecosystem and exacerbate climate change, but the federal government is falling short in its plans to regulate that activity, writes Mark Brooks, senior specialist, oil and gas at WWF-Canada, in a recent post on the WWF blog.

BREAKING: Senate Democrats Finalize Biggest Climate Spend in U.S. History as Schumer, Manchin Outfox McConnell
The United States is back on the cusp of the biggest climate investment in its history after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and coal state Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed to a US$370-billion climate and clean energy package, ending months of negotiations on what one elated advocate called the “best-kept secret in Washington”.

Canada Faces Pushback Over Proposed Fertilizer Emissions Cuts
A campaign of misinformation is working to undermine a 30% fertilizer emissions reduction target in Canada’s next Agriculture Policy Framework (APF), says a national farmers’ coalition, contending that recently announced emissions policies actually don’t go far enough.

Keystone Pipeline Outage Coincides with Local Heat Wave, TC Energy Blames ‘Third-Party Damage’
A heat emergency earlier this week in the U.S. Great Plains region forced the operator of the Keystone pipeline, Calgary-based TC Energy, to cut back its flow of what Bloomberg Markets calls a “crucial grade of oil” to refineries.

India Sees Renewables Boom Amid Global Energy Crisis
Rising clean energy investments and an expanding offshore wind sector are pointing toward a new renewable energy boom in India, as the falling cost of clean technologies paired with the global energy crisis siphons investment away from fossil fuels.

Falling Oil Reserves Are ‘Good News’ for Environment, ‘Major Blow’ to Energy Security
Global reserves of oil available for extraction showed a “sizable drop” of 9% last year, in what an analyst at Rystad Energy is calling “good news for the environment” that could still “deal a major blow to energy security”.

AMERICAN CLIMATE FAILURE: Time for ‘Beast Mode’ as Manchin Torpedoes Biden Clean Energy Package
Millionaire coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) played his final card and the White House conceded defeat on ambitious U.S. climate legislation, after the renegade senator declared he wouldn’t support any climate or energy provisions in President Joe Biden’s signature clean energy package.

Solar, Wind Come In Cheaper than Coal, Save $82B in Fossil Fuel Costs
New wind and solar projects saved countries US$82 billion in fossil fuel costs and will continue to provide badly-needed relief from rising electricity bills, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concludes in a report issued last Thursday.

Newfoundland Wind Farm Would Power Coastal Green Hydrogen Plant
An environmental assessment for a one-gigawatt, 164-turbine wind farm/green hydrogen and ammonia park in rural Newfoundland is generating local concern about potential habitat impacts, while picking up some high-powered support for the community benefits the project would bring.

Oil’s Decline Endangers Jobs Far Beyond Alberta’s Fossil Sector, New Study Finds
Changes in global oil prices and markets will continue to destabilize jobs in Alberta, and declining oil demand due to the shift off carbon will have job impacts far beyond the province’s fossil sector without the right mix of just transition policies, an Oxford University research team concludes in a paper published this morning in the journal Climate Policy.

UK Climate Action Could Wane After Johnson Resigns as PM
Boris Johnson’s imminent departure as British Prime Minister is raising concern that the country will soon begin backsliding on its climate and nature commitments—even if those commitments consisted primarily of grand gestures, with relatively little practical action to back them up.

U.S. Could Slash Inflation, Double Renewables with Better Grid Technologies
The electricity system regulator in the United States could help slash inflation and double the country’s renewable energy supply by encouraging technologies to reduce the “absurd” 3.5-year wait times delaying interconnections between regional power systems, the Rocky Mountain Institute argues in a new analysis.

Time Running Out, Canada Hanging Back on Emergency Plan to Avert $20B Oil Spill Disaster
With a disabled oil supertanker in the Red Sea likely just weeks or months away from breaking up or exploding, triggering a $20-billion ecological and humanitarian disaster, countries that could help pay for an emergency salvage plan are saying they can’t find the right budget codes to free up the funds.

Calgary Adopts Net-Zero Climate Strategy, Ottawa Endorses Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty
Two of Canada’s most influential cities stepped up this week with serious action on the climate emergency, with Calgary adopting a new emissions reduction strategy that includes a 2050 net-zero target and Ottawa endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Conservative Women Far More Likely Than Men to Support Green Transition, EcoAnalytics Research Finds
The first of our EcoA Tips, a new monthly series in The Energy Mix,highlights a surprising bit of data from a major survey by EcoAnalytics, a non-profit market research initiative that uses data and analysis to strengthen Canada’s environmental movement.

Saudi Aramco Talks Net-Zero, Plans to Boost Production Through 2035
The latest emissions trajectory released by state colossal fossil Saudi Aramco—the world’s largest oil producer—shows a boost in production and no drop in emissions before 2035, casting doubt on the company’s words about net-zero commitments.

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta
A group of 15 trainees will be heading out into the field to begin converting two Alberta oilfield sites into solar farms, after graduating from a rapid upskilling program for fossil industry and Indigenous workers hosted by Iron & Earth and Medicine Hat College.

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B
With the United States Supreme Court widely expected to turn its ideological wrecking ball on the country’s greenhouse gas emission controls, a group of climate scientists is pitching a new approach to regulating carbon as a toxic substance.

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ for Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use
The sudden rise in fertilizer prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have implications for global emissions by reducing how much of it farmers use in their fields. But experts say there’s more to the picture, with non-monetary variables like human capital making a big impact on farming decisions.

UK Green Shift Won’t Repeat Job Destruction of Deindustrialization, Report Finds
The United Kingdom’s shift towards a green economy will alter the nature of existing jobs, not destroy them, but policy-makers will have to ensure that low- and mid-skilled workers are not left behind in a transition that will privilege the higher-skilled and better paid, says a new report.

PG&E Risks Greenwashing with Definition of ‘Scope 4’ Emissions
The decision by mammoth California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to report avoided emissions due to its operations could be a progressive step towards climate accountability, but unofficially framing them as “Scope 4 emissions” could open the door to corporate greenwashing, experts warn.

Private Weather Forecasting Gains Popularity Among the World’s Wealthy
As wealthy jurisdictions, companies, and people increasingly buy into the private weather forecasting market and its derivatives, questions are being asked about where this leaves less well-heeled, and often more climate-vulnerable, households and communities.

Infrastructure Gap a ‘Life and Death’ Matter as Northern Canada Warms
The first major assessment of the costs of climate change to infrastructure across Northern Canada calls for action from all levels of government to bring about “transformative adaptation” and address the dual crises of climate hazards and infrastructure gaps.

Net-Zero Transition Can Open Jobs to Marginalized Groups
As Canada’s oilpatch scrambles to fill 2,000+ job openings created by shifting geopolitical and economic winds, new analysis is calling on governments to ensure workers aren’t unduly disrupted by the country’s climate pledges, and that clean energy jobs are available to groups that have been shut out in the past.

BREAKING: Energy Transition ‘Not Happening’ as Fossil Subsidies Fuel Historic Missed Opportunity
The countries of the world missed an “historic chance for a clean energy recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic and saw renewable energy stagnate due to a surge of fossil fuel subsidies last year, the REN 21 Secretariat reports this morning in its Renewables 2022 Global Status Report.

Poor Communities Fare Worst as Extreme Heat Closes U.S. Schools
Extreme heat and humidity is inhibiting learning and leaving teachers in the United States anxious for the well-being of their students, as researchers estimate that by 2025, one in four public schools in the country will need to install air conditioning or upgrade their existing ventilation systems.

Civilian Climate Corps Delivers Green Jobs, Training to Avert New York Gun Violence
BlocPower’s Civilian Climate Corps provides paid, on-the-job training to New Yorkers who live in neighbourhoods with high rates of gun violence, aiming to start them on their way to a career in the city’s fast-growing green construction and clean energy trades.

High Gas Prices Have Floridians Second-Guessing Hurricane Evacuation Orders
As gasoline prices skyrocket in the Sunshine State, so does reluctance to obey hurricane evacuation orders, with a survey finding more than 40% of Florida respondents likely to put their pocketbooks ahead of their personal safety.

‘Surge of Investment’ Brings Record Growth to Alberta Renewables Market
Unprecedented growth in Alberta’s renewable energy sector signifies a vital shift in the province’s energy economy, says the Pembina Institute, but another expert notes that Alberta’s power market also needs to be fixed—so that consumers aren’t overcharged for new grid infrastructure in the renewables boom.

Line 5 Closure Brings Negligible Rise in Gas Prices, Enbridge Consultant Finds
A consulting report for Enbridge Inc. estimates the closure of the Line 5 pipeline would lead to an increase of one to two cents per litre in gasoline prices for Ontarians and Quebecers, a revelation that has reignited debate on the true economic impacts of shuttering an aging pipeline with very clear environmental risks.

Ottawa’s New Carbon Offset Market Lets Big Industry Keep Polluting, Critics Warn
Canada’s first federal carbon offset market kicked off Wednesday as the final piece of the puzzle in the carbon price for big industry takes shape. Climate activists say it simply makes it cheaper for big industry to keep polluting.

SOLAR GAIN: Biden Announces Tariff Relief for Imported Panels, New Supports for Domestic Manufacturing
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a two-year pause on a controversial tariff that was hobbling his country’s solar panel installation industry and imperiling his administration’s 2035 clean energy goal.

Stranded Fossil Fuel Assets Will Cost Investors Trillions, Study Finds
Private investors in rich countries stand to lose more than a trillion dollars on stranded fossil fuel assets as climate policies slash their value, giving them a powerful interest in the transition off carbon, according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Projects Push Renewables Ahead on Canada’s East, West Coasts
Canada’s shift to local renewables is in full swing from coast to coast, with Indigenous-owned hydroelectric and heat pump projects afoot in British Columbia, a 21-megawatt solar and storage project under way in Prince Edward Island, and new wind turbines coming to New Brunswick.

Residents Near U.S. Fossil Facilities Fear Pollution Surge Due to Ukraine War
Communities near fracking operations and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the United States are worried that industrial expansion prompted by Russia’s war in Ukraine will bring them increasing and longer-term exposure to health-threatening pollutants.

Alaska Embraces Microgrids, Battery Storage in Shift off Expensive Fossils
Worried about food security and determined to boost resilience while cutting energy costs, traditionally oil-dependent Alaska is looking to develop new microgrids and upgrade existing fossil-fueled ones—with renewables and storage.

‘Big Wake-Up Call’ as Energy Crisis Makes Fossil Hydrogen a Bad Investment
The current energy crisis is making “blue” hydrogen derived from natural gas with carbon capture even more impractical than it already was, raising broader questions about the use of gas to produce electricity, a new analysis concludes.

Economics, Jobs Might Sway Ontario Toward Climate Action: Radwanski
The economic case for climate action might be the line of argument the climate community needs if it hopes to push Ontario toward faster, deeper carbon cuts during the four years of Premier Doug Ford’s second term, Globe and Mail columnist Adam Radwanski suggests in a post-election column.

U.S. Transit Agency Electrifies 18 Years Ahead of Schedule, Cuts Emissions, Creates Jobs
A transit agency in California is drastically reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, saving money, and creating hundreds of jobs after shifting its entire 87-bus fleet from diesel to electric, 18 years ahead of the state mandate that would have required the new vehicles.

California Drought Raises Tensions As Water Scarcity Drives Unprecedented Measures
California’s unrelenting drought is straining the state’s resources and inflaming tensions in the legislature, as crucial drought relief policies and action are delayed by competing priorities like the pandemic, homelessness, and wildfires.

ELECTORAL ROUT: Ontario Climate Hawks Look to Next Steps as Ford Surges to Second Majority Government
Climate policy analysts and campaigners were looking to next steps last night as they absorbed the results of a provincial election that delivered a second legislative majority for Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government, after the climate emergency barely scratched the surface of the campaign agenda.

Climate Disasters Force Care Workers to Double as First Responders
With long-term care workers and nursing assistants increasingly taking on the role of first responders during climate-driven disasters like wildfires and heat waves, California has launched a pilot project to train them for the new responsibility, while their union pushes for better wages and benefits to match the added work load.

Ford’s ‘Lack of Foresight’ Costs Windsor $2.5B Battery Plant Investment, 1,000 Jobs
With the provincial election just days away, a business group in Windsor is blaming the Ford government’s hostility to renewable energy for the loss of a C$2.5-billion investment from South Korean chemical giant LG Chem.

Climate Inaction Would Cost $178 Trillion by 2070, Deloitte Warns
Business-as-usual inaction on climate change could cost the world’s economy US$178 trillion by 2070, while a concerted and collaborative global push for net-zero could see $43 trillion in economic growth over the same period, says a new report from the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress.

Canada Can Hit 100% Zero-Emission Electricity by 2035 Without Nuclear, CCS, Report Finds
Canada can achieve 100% zero-emission electricity by 2035 with an electricity system that prioritizes renewable energy, storage, energy efficiency, and interprovincial transmission and avoids the pitfalls of nuclear generation, fossil gas, carbon capture and storage, and carbon offsets, the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) concludes in a modelling study released this week.

In Depth: Departing Consultant Contrasts Shell’s Safety Commitment with ‘Complete Greenwash’ on Climate
The senior safety consultant whose high-profile resignation from Shell spotlighted the company’s “extreme harms” to the environment is drawing a sharp contrast between the colossal fossil’s enduring interest in safer work processes and its failure to deliver on its highly-touted emissions reduction plan.

Vancouver Neighbourhoods Close In on 15-Minute City Status, Study Finds
Vancouver’s core-area neighbourhoods are closing in on 15-minute city status, says a new study conducted by Simon Fraser University, largely because a decisive majority of residents can get to their nearest grocery store on foot, and at a relaxed pace.

Humanity Faces ‘Twin Crises’ of Environmental Threats, Growing Armed Conflict, SIPRI Warns
Environmental degradation and rising insecurity are twin crises that, together, threaten to turn back decades of economic and social progress while governments look away instead of taking action, a new report warns.

U.S. Can’t Drill Its Way to Energy Security, Jenkins Warns
The war in Ukraine is increasing gasoline prices in America despite the country’s status as the world’s largest oil producer, demonstrating why the United States “cannot drill its way to energy security” and should instead invest in renewables, writes Princeton University energy specialist Jesse Jenkins.

Food and Fashion Sectors Lead Widening Spread of Climate Careers
No longer the sole province of tool- and computer-wielding technicians and scientists, climate careers will be increasingly found across all sectors, according to a new generation of young entrepreneurs who are determined to leave the world far better than they found it.

Lack of Consent Drives Indigenous Opposition to Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mining Plan
By pushing forward Ring of Fire mining and smelting development projects in northern Ontario, experts say federal and provincial governments are failing to recognize the right to free, informed, and prior consent enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), ratified by the Canadian government.

Floating Tidal Project Linked to Nova Scotia Grid in Canadian First
A floating tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy has been successfully connected to Nova Scotia’s grid, an undertaking that marks a milestone for Canada’s marine energy ambitions, say proponents, as the bay’s tidal resources could be harnessed for thousands of megawatts of clean energy in the future.

India Halts Wheat Exports to Protect Food Security as Southeast Asia Faces Deadly Heat Wave
The international community is gearing for global market shocks after India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, halted most wheat exports to protect its national food security, while advocates call for greater attention to the entire Southeast Asian region gripped by the same deadly heat wave.

Cities Must Prepare for Waves of Climate Refugees: Panel
The current narrative linking international human migration with increased security risks should not be accepted at face value, say experts, and policy-makers must focus on building cohesive strategies and support systems for migration within borders in anticipation of large influxes of climate refugees, a conference audience heard last week.

Lawsuit Targets Ottawa, Equinor Over Bay du Nord Project Approval
Environmental law charity Ecojustice launched a suit in federal court and local opponents staged a rally outside the St. John’s office of Norwegian state fossil Equinor as opposition to the controversial Bay du Nord offshore oil and gas megaproject entered a new stage.

Ontario Power Emissions to Rise 400% After Ford Cancels Hundreds of Renewables Projects
Greenhouse gas emissions from Ontario’s electricity system are set to increase more than 400% over the next two decades after the Doug Ford government cancelled a major wind farm and 758 smaller renewable energy projects, according to a forecast published by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator and reported by the Toronto Star.

Coal Mining Communities Could Decide Result of Australia Election
Campaigners in Australia’s federal election are caught in a balancing act between appeasing the majority of citizens who want the government to prioritize climate goals—and seducing voters in a handful of constituencies where a major source of livelihood is the world’s dirtiest fuel.

IEA Predicts Record Renewable Energy Expansion for 2022
New renewable energy capacity will exceed 300 gigawatts this year for the first time, with mounting concerns about climate change and energy security driving an 8% increase over 2021 despite rising costs and supply chain bottlenecks, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports this week in its annual renewables market update.

Heavy Industry Town in B.C. Embraces 100% Renewable Energy Transition
A heavy industry town in British Columbia with an ingrained suspicion of government has decided to say yes to a 100% renewable energy transition by 2050, after a local climate group spent time meeting people where they’re at with curiosity and compassion—a hallmark of the “deep canvassing” technique.

Electrifying Transport Could Eliminate Global Tensions Fueled by Oil
Major geopolitical tensions could be resolved by electrifying transportation, a change that would dilute the concentration of power held by oil producers and redistribute it across producers of solar, wind, and other clean energies, analysts say.

Wind Industry Faces ‘Colossal Market Failure’ Under Strain of Ukraine War
The clean energy transition stands to suffer a major blow as wind turbine manufacturers struggle to maintain profitability due to vanishing subsidies, high materials costs, and supply chain issues worsened by the war in Ukraine.

Australian Suburb Connects Community Battery to Rooftop Solar
As an example of what some see as a key piece of the transition to clean energy, a community battery in a Perth, Australia, suburb won over some of the community’s residents by storing electricity from rooftop solar panels to distribute back to the grid.

Coal, Gas Face Deepening Financial Risk in Fitch Climate Vulnerability Ratings
Coal power plants face “existential” financial risk as early as 2030 and gas facilities will see their profits disrupted by “major changes to markets, regulation, and business mode” through 2050, according to the latest climate vulnerability assessment published by Fitch Ratings.

World’s Biggest Solar+Storage Project Will Produce 20 GW, Offset 480 Million Tonnes of Emissions
The world’s biggest solar+storage project is expected to include 20 gigawatts of solar capacity and 42 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity, enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 480 million tonnes per year, according to environmental impact documents filed last week with an Australian regulator.

Victoria Councillor Pushes for Free Transit for All
After persuading his colleagues to support free transit for under-19s and low-income seniors, Victoria city councillor Ben Isitt is working hard to push his city to join the 100 or so municipalities around the world that already make public transit free for all riders.

Florida Governor Vetoes Effort to Slash Utility Payments for Rooftop Solar
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has unexpectedly vetoed a bill that would have slashed the rates that utilities have to pay rooftop solar owners who sell their surplus power back to the grid, a move that would have devastated the solar industry in the U.S. jurisdiction known as the Sunshine State.

Montem’s Switch From Coal to Renewables Has Alberta Advocates On Alert
South Melbourne, Australia-based Montem Resources has announced plans to pursue a renewable energy project at its Tent Mountain site in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass instead of its planned coal mine, but some environmental advocates remain suspicious of the company’s plans.

‘Overly Optimistic’ Hydrogen Target Sows Doubt on Canada’s 2030 Climate Plan, Environment Commissioner Warns
Canada’s latest climate plan makes “overly optimistic” about the role of hydrogen, fails to map out a just transition for fossil fuel workers and communities, relies on “aspirational numbers” for carbon capture and storage technology, and may ultimately fall short of the country’s 2030 emission reduction target, Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner Jerry DeMarco warned Tuesday.

125 Ontario Groups Target Provincial Election Candidates with Emergency Climate Campaign
Binding, science-based climate targets, respect for Indigenous sovereignty, and investment in a “thriving, regenerative, zero-emissions economy” are the top demands from more than 125 organizations that were scheduled to launch the Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign at the provincial legislature later today.

‘Stop Burning Our Future’, Say Yukon Students Rallying for Climate Action
“You’re going to die of old age. We’re going to die of climate change,” chanted a group of Whitehorse, Yukon, high school students who gathered on Earth Day to protest the failure of way too many adults to take the climate crisis seriously.

Link Basic Income with Just Transition, Green Resilience Project Urges Governments
Economic security through a basic income must be at the centre of the just transition off fossil fuels, and Canadians need the wherewithal to build resilience in their own communities, the Green Resilience Project concluded earlier this month, based on a series of 33 local conversations involving more than 900 participants across the country.

Fertilizer Price Crunch Lead to Emission Cuts in Agriculture
The fertilizer price crunch now plaguing farmers is reminiscent of the 1970s oil shock that led to greater energy efficiency in several industries, and could produce a similar shift in today’s agriculture sector—but that transition will have to be managed carefully to avoid further disrupting the global food supply.

Ontario Expands Solar Net Metering as Electricity Shortage Looms
With pre-election announcements in full swing ahead of a June 2 vote, Ontario has shifted its net metering regulations to make it easier for homeowners, farms, and businesses to generate income from rooftop solar or other renewable energy systems by selling surplus electricity back to the grid.

U.S. Sees Drop in Gas-Fired Power Production
Natural gas-fired power generation in the United States peaked in 2020, and it will continue to fall as it competes with increasingly affordable wind and solar capacity, according to analysts who say renewables’ growth is being “supercharged” by rising fossil fuel costs and disruptions in energy security.

Michigan Utility to Phase Out Coal by 2025, 15 Years Early, Install 8 GW of Solar by 2040
Michigan’s biggest energy supplier will phase out coal in 2025, 15 years ahead of its original schedule, embrace low-carbon electricity options, and donate to a fund for low-income utility customers under a proposed settlement with Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Overcome Fatalism By Talking Solutions, Climate Communicators Urged
A summary of public opinion research on what Canadians really think about climate change concludes that climate communicators urgently need to provide different audiences with tangible, specific examples of climate solutions, to counter a growing sense that humanity is helpless in the face of the climate crisis.

Fix Fossil Leaks to Cut Soaring Atmospheric Methane, NOAA Urges
Limiting leaks from fossil fuel facilities is “low-hanging fruit” for stabilizing atmospheric methane levels, which showed the largest increase on record last year and hit the highest level since scientists began collecting data 39 years ago.

EU LNG Imports Produce Fewer Emissions than Russia’s Piped Gas
The European Union’s fuel supply options carry different implications for the climate, according to a life cycle assessment released while the continent is rethinking energy policy from between the rock of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the hard place of a looming energy supply crisis.

Analysts List Five Steps to Hit Canada’s 2030 Emissions Target
Canada’s new 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is a comprehensive, ambitious, and transparent policy roadmap for achieving Canada’s climate goals. It uses credible modelling to demonstrate a path to 2030 targets. It’s a big step forward. It’s also not enough, write Dave Sawyer, principal economist, and Dale Beugin, VP of research, at the Canadian Climate Institute.

Climeworks Carbon Removal Plant Raises $650M in New Investment
Already the largest carbon removal plant in the world, Climeworks can now also claim to have raised the largest sum of any carbon dioxide removal company after investors put up US$650 million to fund the start-ups’s effort to capture more than a million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030.

Affordable Housing, Cleantech Investment, Carbon Capture Subsidy Headline 2022 Federal Budget
Major new dollars for affordable and energy-efficient housing, a C$15-billion fund to accelerate clean investment, and a controversial tax credit for carbon capture and storage (CCUS) technology are among the big-ticket items in the federal budget tabled in the House of Commons yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Ottawa Issues ‘Slap in the Face’ to Climate Science, Approves Bay du Nord Offshore Oil Megaproject
The federal cabinet administered what one critic called a “slap in the face” to climate science with a decision today to approve the massive Bay du Nord oil and gas megaproject off the Newfoundland coast.

‘Master Class in War Profiteering’ as Big Oil Pads Pockets on Russia Invasion: Report
Fossil fuel companies are using stock buybacks to profit from Russia’s war on Ukraine—at the expense of consumers, workers, and just about everyone else, says a new report released by advocacy groups just as the United States holds hearings to scrutinize oil and gas profits.

RETHINKING DEMAND: Tackling Consumption Can Deliver 40-70% Cut in End Use Emissions
For the first time in the UN agency’s 34-year history, yesterday’s massive report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) introduces the language of “demand-side” action to the field of climate mitigation, with potential to reduce emissions by 40 to 70% in the places where people live, work, learn, and play.

Climate Action Depends on Cooperation between Developed, Developing Countries, IPCC Finds
International cooperation on climate action has grown since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to yield modest progress, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but stronger collaborations are needed to overcome barriers in countries with limited capacity.

Provincial Energy Efficiency Programs Fail to Tackle Energy Poverty, New Analysis Warns
Provincial and territorial energy efficiency programs are failing to reach the 20% of Canadians who are struggling to cover their home energy costs, but federal investment can stop those households from being left behind in the push for net-zero emissions, Efficiency Canada says in a new report.

OPEC+ Rejects IEA Data, Says It’s ‘Undermined by Views on Climate Change
A spat between the International Energy Agency and a global cartel of fossil producers is breaking out into the open, with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies accusing the IEA of giving too much credence to the climate emergency and purveying biased data.

Biden Deploys Defense Production Act to Boost EV Batteries, ‘Free U.S. from Fossil Dependence’
U.S. President Joe Biden brandished one of the biggest weapons in his economic arsenal Thursday in hopes of turning the United States into a leading producer of electric-vehicle batteries and the minerals used to make them.

Easier Ride for Fossils, But $9.1B in Climate Funding as Ottawa Releases 2030 Plan
The fossil and transportation sectors get a relatively free ride and electricity producers do the most to decarbonize in the much-anticipated 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan released yesterday by Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Bay du Nord a Bad Investment, Test of Trudeau’s Climate Commitment, Says Advocate
The proposed Bay du Nord offshore oil project in Newfoundland is economically and environmentally “impossible to justify,” writes an environmental advocate, calling the venture’s emissions damaging and unnecessary as Canada lags on climate goals.

New Model Building Code Shows Steps to Net-Zero Ready Buildings by 2030
Canada’s National Research Council has quietly released a new set of national building codes that show how provincial and territorial governments—which actually hold authority for codes and standards—can make new buildings net-zero ready by 2030.

India’s 2070 Net-Zero Goal is Fit to the Challenges it Faces, Experts Say
Experts say renewables will be a critical component of India’s climate plan—which rightfully sets its net-zero deadline two decades later than wealthier high-emitters like the United States and Europe—as the country balances urgent climate adaptation alongside pressing support for food security.

Michigan Utility Takes ‘Critical Step’ to Expand Low-Income Energy Efficiency Programs
An agreement by a Michigan public utility to expand its low-income efficiency programs and study how the energy burden of vulnerable households can be reduced is being hailed by environmental justice advocates as a crucial move towards fighting energy inequality.

Fossils Must Pull Their Weight, Cut Emissions 45% This Decade, Analysts Say
Canada’s long-awaited 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) must set legally-binding limits for the oil and gas industry that are “coherent with national targets”, since “other sectors would be required to do even more for Canada to achieve its target” if fossils failed to pull their weight, the country’s Net-Zero Advisory Body said in its official advice to the government earlier this week.

New Online Tool Matches Canadian Oil and Gas Workers With Renewables Jobs
Iron & Earth has launched a new online tool to help Canadian fossil fuel workers move into careers in the net-zero economy, matching their skills to trades and administration positions in wind, solar, energy efficiency, electric vehicle charging, and more.

Liberal-NDP Deal Delivers More Stability, Not Enough Climate Action, Analysts Warn
The federal Liberals and New Democrats must make good use of the next three-plus years of political stability by embracing more decisive climate action than they promised in the supply and confidence agreement (CSA) unveiled yesterday, leading climate policy analysts have told The Energy Mix.

Canada, U.K., U.S. Must Cut Oil and Gas 76% by 2030 to Keep 1.5° Alive, New Analysis Finds
Canada is one of 19 oil and gas-producing countries that must reduce production by three-quarters this decade and phase it out completely by 2034 to keep a 1.5°C climate future within sight, while allowing less wealthy, more fossil-dependent economies more time to catch up, according to a new analysis released this week by the United Kingdom’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

Cities Must Use Their Authority for Bold Climate Action, Miller Says
Canadian cities already have the authority to take bold action on climate solutions, and the world’s best municipal climate leaders have shown how other communities can cut their emissions and embrace climate and environmental justice, former Toronto mayor David Miller told an online community meeting in Ottawa Monday evening.

Grounding Airline Emissions Means Flying Less, Advocates Conclude
Flying less is currently the only path to rapid reduction in aviation emissions, and will remain so for longer than necessary if the aviation industry fails to grasp that its survival depends on embracing climate-friendly technological innovation, a veteran climate and aviation analyst warns.

‘Not That Hard to Grasp’: UK Could Eliminate Need for Russian Gas with Insulation, Heat Pumps, Renewables
The United Kingdom could eliminate all need for imported Russian gas this year and cut average home heating costs by £150 by embracing insulation and heat pumps, encouraging consumers to change their energy habits, and relying more on renewable energy, the E3G climate consultancy concludes in an analysis released last week.

Chambers of Commerce Back Line 5 Pipeline as Michigan AG Scorches Corporate ‘Propaganda’
Business leaders from the United States and Canada are again wading into the fray over Line 5, citing the energy crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine to accuse the state of Michigan of dragging its heels to keep the controversial cross-border pipeline in a state of legal limbo.

Cutting the Commute Helps, But Recognize Work-from-Home Emissions, Experts Urge Companies
The hybrid work week—with employees commuting to the office only occasionally—is not enough to limit corporate carbon footprints in a post-pandemic reality. Experts say progress to cut emissions could be held back if larger questions of evolving employee behaviours, efficient use of indoor space, and impacts on cities are not addressed.

Conservative MP Urges New Brunswick to Adopt Federal Carbon Price, Let Rebate Cheques Flow
A Conservative member of Parliament from New Brunswick is raising eyebrows on both sides of the aisle by calling on the province to abandon its own carbon tax system and adopt the federal floor price on carbon.

EU Economy Ministers Adopt World’s First Carbon Border Adjustment Rule
Economy ministers across the European Union have adopted the world’s first carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), bringing the continent one step closer to a levy on imports in emissions-intensive industries like electricity, steel, cement, aluminum, and fertilizer.

Canada, Ontario Back Honda Hybrid Vehicle Plant, Dodge Questions on Consumer Rebates
Canada’s prime minister and Ontario’s premier announced millions in funding support for domestic hybrid car production this week, but both leaders dodged questions on the possibility of incentives to help Canadians buy them.

Cap-and-Trade Could Add to Environmental Injustice, Undermine Emission Reductions, California Studies Say
Two recent reports have raised questions about California’s carbon cap-and-trade program, concluding that the system worsens environmental justice disparities and could undermine progress towards the state’s emissions reduction targets without effective policy reforms.

Russian Oligarch Facing Ukraine Sanctions Supplied Trans Mountain, Coastal GasLink Pipelines
Steelworkers in Regina and politicians at all levels were scrambling to assess the local implications Friday after the federal government extended its Ukraine sanctions list to include Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, a close associate of Vladimir Putin and part owner of the steel mill that produced pipe for the Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines.

Just Transition Advocates See Legislation on the Horizon after Federal Roundtable
An April 30 deadline for the federal government’s just transition consultation, announced as part of a virtual roundtable last Thursday, is being taken as a sign that Ottawa will be getting started on legislation to help fossil fuel workers and communities navigate the shift off carbon, more than two years after then-environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s pre-pandemic promise to make it happen.

Energy Efficiency ‘Could Swing Electoral Success’ in 40 UK Constituencies
With the war in Ukraine triggering a secondary crisis in gas heating costs across Europe, “tackling poor quality homes in marginal constituencies could swing election success,” the United Kingdom’s Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) concludes in a report released last week.

Renewable Energy Co-ops See Scant Federal Interest in Locally-Owned Power
A group of 16 community renewable energy co-ops from seven provinces is fighting an uphill battle for recognition, nearly a month after urging the federal government to make it easier for Canadians to invest in locally-owned and -generated electricity.

Industry Newsletter Cites 4 Transmission Techs to Watch as Electrification Gains Pace
With extreme weather wreaking havoc on power lines, experts are turning their attention to emerging transmission technologies, and have named four companies to watch as the United States ramps up renewables-based electrification.

Breakthrough Technologies Raise Hopes for ‘Wearable Solar’ Within a Decade
A recent solar technology breakthrough from UK scientists brings “wearable solar” one step closer to commercial production and could greatly expand the amount of solar power generated by weaving the microscopic technology into daily living.

Four Dozen Events Across Canada to Demand Federal Just Transition Act
About four dozen communities across Canada are planning events tomorrow to get action on the Trudeau government’s long-standing promise to introduce a Just Transition Act, aimed at priming fossil fuel communities and workers for the transition off fossil fuels.

End ‘Hefty’ Fossil Subsidies at Home and Abroad, Op-Ed Urges Ottawa
Advocates are urging Ottawa to fully and rapidly phase out all financial support for fossil fuel development—at home and abroad, abated and unabated—to correct Canada’s abysmal record of being the worst climate performer of all G7 nations since the landmark Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.

China Carving Out Key Role in Global Energy Transition, Say Analysts
China’s dual status as both the world’s top coal consumer and renewable energy developer raises questions about whether the country is meeting its climate pledges, but some analysts say focusing on these two domestic factors misses the larger picture of China’s role in the international energy transition.

EU to Cut Russian Gas Use 65% This Year as Analysts Urge Faster Shift to Renewables
Following a dramatic pledge yesterday to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by 65% this year and phase out all Russian fossil fuels “well before 2030”, the European Union is under pressure to replace gas from all sources through a rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable energy.

CO2 Emissions from Energy Hit All-Time High of 36.3 Billion Tonnes in 2021
Global carbon dioxide emissions from energy hit a record high of 36.3 billion tonnes (gigatonnes) in 2021, the International Energy Agency reported yesterday, with an “extremely rapid economic recovery” translating into higher emissions from fuel burning and industrial processes and China accounting for the largest share of the increase.

Hawaii Offers Cash Bonus for Solar Homes Sending Power to the Grid
Hawaiian households with rooftop solar will soon be rewarded for sharing electricity with the grid at peak hours, while in California, three utilities are pushing to make solar-equipped homes pay extra fees as their monthly power bills go down.

Expert Traces Trade Agreements’ ‘Profound’ Impact on Climate
As a Canadian expert urges governments to address the climate impacts of their trade and investment policies in light of a grim report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a small shift is already under way in the United States, with Republicans extolling the benefits of carbon border adjustments to thwart Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

EV’s, Methane Controls, Carbon Capture to Headline Guilbeault’s 2030 Emissions Plan
Electric vehicles, methane controls, and carbon capture storage are among the cornerstones of the 2030 climate plan that Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault is getting set to release at the end of this month, Bloomberg Green reports.

Analysis: From Gas to Renewables to Efficiency, Putin’s War Has EU Scrambling for Energy Independence
With Vladimir Putin’s devastating war in Ukraine now well into its second week, news coverage and commentary are turning to the steps other European countries can take to break their dependence on Russian oil and gas, once and for all.

Latest Cost Hike Makes Trans Mountain a ‘Delusion’, Tsleil-Waututh Say
In light of the Canadian federal government’s decision to not provide additional funding for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust is calling the viability of the pipeline a “delusion,” and reaffirming its position that the project needs to be halted.

U.S. Utilities Underestimate Cost of Carbon, Climate, Deloitte finds
Investor-owned utilities in the United States have underestimated the financial risks of stranded assets, future carbon costs, and penalties for inaction, which will cost them more than the expenses of rapidly decarbonizing now, according to a Deloitte report.

New Brunswick Auditor General Rebukes Funding Gap for Energy Retrofits
New Brunswick’s provincial utility and its government must work together to ensure that low- and middle-income households can afford energy retrofits, a new report says, in a critique of the province’s failure to make energy efficiency accessible to all.

Inuvik Wind Turbine to Cut Diesel Costs $3M by 2023
A wind turbine should be up and running in Inuvik, NWT by early 2023, reducing the territory’s annual emissions by 6,000 tonnes and saving the NWT Power Corporation (NTPC) C$3 million in diesel costs—though how much of these savings will be passed down to households remains uncertain.

Reject Bay du Nord Oil Megaproject, 200 Canadian, International Groups Tell Ottawa
With a decision by Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault expected next week, nearly 200 environmental and citizens’ groups from Canada and beyond are urging the federal government to reject the mammoth Bay du Nord oil and gas development off the coast of Newfoundland.

Canada Plans Mandatory Energy Audits Before All Home Sales
Canada’s push to require energy efficiency audits for houses before they’re listed for sale is drawing flak from the real estate sector, even if it’s a basic building block for the amped-up energy efficiency effort the country needs to pursue.

‘Harrowing’ IPCC Report Cites Limits to Climate Adaptation, Stresses Climate Justice
With climate dangers coming on faster, ranging wider, and hitting harder than scientists previously expected, and major impacts unavoidable in the immediate future, a United Nations agency report described by observers as “grim”, “harrowing”, and “unflinching” is looking at how humanity can adapt to climate risk, how much climate adaptation can achieve—and how climate justice has moved to the centre of the conversation.

Disrupted Food Systems Imperil Women, Indigenous Peoples, Small Producers
Ecosystem-based adaptation strategies are essential to address climate disruptions to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture, but with the caveat that incautious strategies can have “maladaptive outcomes” that further harm the most vulnerable groups, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says in its report this week on climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.

Nature-Based Solutions Could Help Moderate Land-Water Ecosystem Impacts
Nature-based solutions (NbS) provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise alarming IPCC climate report assessing the globe’s land and water ecosystems, which concludes that at least 30% of Earth’s surface must be protected so that ecosystem services can help curb warming.

Marine Species, Habitats Suffer from ‘Unprecedented’ Ocean Conditions
Ocean and coastal species and habitats are struggling with a rapid shift to conditions that haven’t been seen in thousands of years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports in this week’s assessment of climate adaptation, impacts, and vulnerability.

Analysis: Fossil Fuel Demand Funds Ukraine War as Putin Grabs for Influence
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth day, with colossal fossil BP pulling its US$14-billion investment in state oil company Rosneft, analysts are pointing to fossil fuels as both a cause and a beneficiary of an intense and brutal war, while others urge a faster transition to renewable energy as an antidote to Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

Putin’s War in Ukraine Displaces Climate as Top Concern, Drives Oil Prices to 8-Year High
The climate emergency was pushed to the back burner in international relations and oil prices hit US$105 per barrel this week after Russian President Vladimir Putin capped weeks of escalating tensions by launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Harvesters Warn of ‘Dire Effects’ as Minister Aims to Protect Fish Stocks from Climate Disruption
A recent appearance by Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray at an industry annual meeting has set off a sea squall of controversy, with harvesters and unions warning of the “dire social and economic effects” of federal catch limits and Murray stressing her interest in keeping fish stocks sustainable in an era of climate disruption.

Renewable Grids Could Help U.S. Utilities Withstand Extreme Weather, Modelling Shows
Blackouts like the ones that have hit Texas and California in recent years can be avoided at low cost with clean, interconnected, renewable power sources, say Stanford University researchers who studied grid stability under several scenarios in which wind, water, and solar—coupled with storage—would meet 100% of America’s electricity needs.

BREAKING: Fossils Emit 70% More Methane than Governments Report: IEA Tracker
Emissions of climate-busting methane from fossil fuel operations are 70% higher than national governments are reporting, according to the 2022 edition of the Global Methane Tracker released this morning by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

U.S. Delays New Fossil Permits After Judge Quashes Social Cost of Carbon Calculation
The Biden administration is delaying decisions on new oil and gas drilling on federal land and other energy-related actions after a federal court blocked the way officials were calculating the real-world costs of climate change.

NL NDP Leader Urges Just Transition as Debate Heats Up on Bay Du Nord Oilfield
Pressure is beginning to build against Newfoundland and Labrador’s latest offshore oil venture, the 200,000-barrel-per-day Bay du Nord offshore oil development, with provincial NDP leader Jim Dinn speaking out about the climate costs of the proposal and demanding a just transition for the province’s oil and gas work force.

‘Out of Control’ Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Cost $21.4B, Still Need Taxpayers to Back Private Investors
There’s virtually no chance private financiers will put up billions of dollars to complete the Trans Mountain pipeline without a federal loan guarantee, analysts say, despite Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s assurance Friday that “no additional public money” will be invested in a project whose cost has now ballooned from $5.4 to $21.4 billion.

Disinformation, Extremism Make Climate Action Tougher Than It Should Be: McKenna
With the last vestiges of a three-week occupation gradually clearing out of downtown Ottawa, and at least one key convoy organizer showing up in court wearing an “I ❤️ Oil and Gas” hoodie, a former federal environment minister is pointing to parallels between two of the urgent, science-based issues the country faces—the pandemic and the climate emergency.

Koch Subsidiary Sues Ottawa after Ontario Refuses to Compensate Cap-and-Trade Losses
Officials in the office of Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushed U.S.-based Koch Industries to seek compensation in international courts for the cancellation of the province’s carbon cap-and-trade program, thereby pushing the costs onto all Canadians, according to an investigation published this week by The Narwhal.

Australia’s Biggest Coal Plant to Close in 2025, Seven Years Early
Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant is set to close in 2025, seven years ahead of schedule, and the energy minister in New South Wales says the state will have enough reliable, affordable electricity to keep the lights on—thanks in part to a new “super battery” the government plans to build.

‘Great Climate Backslide’ Takes Shape as Banks Pour Trillions Into Fossils
With Bloomberg News declaring that governments’ “Great Climate Backslide” has begun, recent reports show major banks pouring more than a trillion dollars into oil, gas, and coal, even as they scramble to burnish their green credentials.

Community Microgrids Held Up by Limited Financing, Low Profile, Researchers Say
Anyone seeking to improve the uptake of microgrids will have to raise the public profile of the technology, nail down financing, and make sure the grids are actually green, not fossil fueled, according to an ongoing study of community concerns around the technology.

Data Paywall Hinders Climate Studies, Researchers Warn IEA
Academics and activists are pressing the International Energy Agency (IEA) to make its data available to everyone for free, warning that the organization’s prohibitive subscription fees impede non-profits and independent researchers from contributing to climate science.

Conservatives Drop Carbon Pricing Promise as Leadership Campaign Gets Under Way
The federal Conservative Party under interim leader Candice Bergen is dropping its commitment to a consumer price on carbon, just as a small band of conservative opinion-makers set out to convince their peers that climate policy matters.

Car-Dependent Transport with EV’s Will Still Leave People Behind, Advocates Warn
The high-powered shift to electric vehicles mustn’t leave public transit behind or prevent policy-makers from addressing the big problems with car dependency, like using scarce land for roads and parking instead of housing, Ohio social justice groups are warning.

‘This Is Sedition’: Ottawa Insurrection Has Roots in Pro-Pipeline, Pro-Fossil Convoy
With the illegal insurrection in Canada’s capital now entering its third week, close observers are linking the occupation to past protests supporting pipelines and fossil fuels, digging into the white supremacist funding and logistics behind the convoy, and spotlighting the increasingly serious health impacts for downtown Ottawa residents exposed to round-the-clock noxious diesel fumes, deafening truck horns, and random harassment and intimidation in their neighbourhoods.

Hold Fossils Accountable for Environmental Impacts, 3/4 of Canadians Say
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians believe fossil fuel companies should definitely or probably be held accountable for their environmental impacts, according to a Politico-Morning Consult survey of 1,000 people in each of 13 countries.

Utilities’ Place in a Net-Zero Future Depends on Just Transition, Regional Grid Policies
The practical pathways to align power utility planning with future climate goals—from market transformation in regions that still depend heavily on fossil fuels, to a just transition for workers and communities—were the focus of a late January webinar hosted by Energy Central and the Utility 2030 Collaborative.

Cenovus CEO Says High Oil Prices Won’t Last, Rejects ‘Spending Spree’ on New Projects
The CEO of one of Canada’s leading tar sands/oil sands companies is admitting that this year’s surge in global oil prices won’t last, projecting future prices that set the broader industry on a course for financial failure.

Africa Can Hit Zero-Carbon by 2050, Experts Say
The fossil era is ending, zero-carbon electrification is imperative, and Africa stands rich in all that will be necessary to secure safer, more sustainable, and much wealthier lives for its peoples, says the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) in a recent working paper.

UK Homes Need Heat Pumps and Energy Efficiency, Not Hydrogen, Study Concludes
The United Kingdom should focus on installing electric heat pumps and improving energy efficiency in homes rather than shifting to hydrogen-powered heating, says a recent report on decarbonizing the country’s natural gas networks.

Gambling on Climate Failure: These New Oil and Gas Projects Only Succeed if Emission Controls Fall Short
A new analysis co-authored by a former BP geologist identifies five big oil and gas projects—run by ExxonMobil, Shell, Equinor, Petrobras, and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation—that will only succeed if efforts to control global greenhouse gas emissions fail.

Winter Storm Brings Memories of Past Texas Grid Failure
A winter storm left more than 50,000 Texans without electricity last week, despite Governor Greg Abbott’s reassurance that “the lights will stay on” this time, a year after a severe winter cold snap left millions in darkness and caused hundreds of deaths.

Finance Authority Pitches Plan to Speed Up Diesel Replacements for First Nations
With the federal government on a mission to eliminate carbon-intensive, expensive diesel generators in remote Indigenous communities by 2030, an Indigenous financial agency is proposing a new investment mechanism to deliver faster results for the nearly 300 communities that still depend on the fuel.

Biden Extends Trump Solar Tariff, Loosens Restrictions on Bifacial Panels
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday extended tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on most solar panels imported from China and other countries. But in a nod to his efforts to combat climate change and boost clean energy, Biden loosened restrictions on some panels used in large-scale utility projects.

EXCLUSIVE: Catastrophic Flooding Drives Down Homes’ Value, Makes Them Harder to Sell
Catastrophic flooding in five Canadian cities has driven down the selling price of homes by 8.2%, reduced the number of houses listed for sale by nearly half, and increased the average time it takes to sell a house by nearly 20%, according to new research obtained by The Energy Mix.

UK Forges Ahead with Oilfield Approval, Total Plans New Pipeline Despite Climate Goals
The United Kingdom has approved a new oil and gas field, while French colossal fossil TotalÉnergies has invested US$10 billion to fund a pipeline in Uganda, both moves showing that leaders are willing to set aside their climate pledges in order to expand fossil development.

Nova Scotia Utility Delays Controversial New Charge for Solar Home Owners
Nova Scotia Power has announced a one-year delay for a controversial proposal to charge fees to customers who sell renewable power back to the grid, after a wave of industry and community concern that the plan could wipe out the province’s emerging solar industry.

Advocates Flag Greenwashing, Social Justice Concerns as Big Polluters Lean on Carbon Offsets
Green go-betweens—or companies that connect corporations and governments with reforestation programs to get them to net-zero—are touting carbon credit projects as a “critical intervention” to meet climate goals. But some experts warn that helping heavy polluters greenwash their image could obscure bigger problems, including their unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.

New Brunswick Workshop Connects Climate Resilience with Income Security
An online workshop in New Brunswick’s Tantramar region earlier this month focused in on the connections between climate resilience and poverty—and how a basic income can make all the difference for a community trying to cope with a wide array of climate impacts.

Rise of Extreme Weather Calls for ‘Massive Investment’ in Decarbonized Grid
Increased investment, technological advances, and improved communication are essential for electricity grids trying to embrace the energy transition against the backdrop of more frequent extreme weather events, according to a webinar panel hosted by Publicis Sapient and the Utility 2030 Collaborative earlier this month.

Incandescent Bulbs Raise Living Costs for America’s Poorest Communities
America’s poor pay the most to light their homes—both at the till and on their electricity bills—as lower-end retailers continue to sell the inefficient incandescent bulbs that have been replaced by energy-saving LEDs in stores serving more affluent neighbourhoods.

New Reports Stress Job Creation, ‘Democratic Imperative’ in Just Transition Off Fossil Fuels
It’s time for Canada to seize the “democratic imperative” for a fast, comprehensive just transition off fossil fuels, while taking advantage of new job creation in rising clean energy industries, according to two new reports issued this week.

Tackle Energy Poverty in Next Budget, Advocates Urge Ottawa
No Canadian household should have to choose between heating, eating, and other essentials, say a groundswell of energy and anti-poverty advocates who back Efficiency Canada’s push for Ottawa to fund energy efficiency programs for low-income households in the upcoming budget.

UK Lags France, Germany in Home Energy Efficiency
The United Kingdom’s Greener Homes Grant helped fewer than 8% of its targeted 600,000 homes before ending abruptly, while similar initiatives in France and Germany achieved wider success, partly by running more competently and making government support more easily accessible.

Energy Storage Could Balance U.S. Electricity Loads All Year Round by 2050
Energy storage could become a big enough factor in the United States power grid to help drive fossil fuels out of the system, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and balance electricity loads at every hour of every day year-round by 2050, according to analysis released earlier this month by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Falling Cost of Renewable Hydrogen to Produce ‘Violent Shakedown’ Against Fossil-Fuelled Options
Global hydrogen markets are in for a “violent shakedown” this decade, as electrolyzer costs fall more than 85% and renewably-produced green hydrogen becomes more affordable than the fossil-derived variety within two years, according to new analysis by Rethink Energy.

U.S. Climate Disasters Leave Vulnerable Students Straining to Recover, Report Finds
More than two-thirds of America’s public school students live in counties that experienced major climate disasters between 2017 and 2019, and a new report shows that socially vulnerable students were hit especially hard, struggled to recover, and in some cases lost ground.

Half of World’s Most Vulnerable Countries Miss Out on UN Adaptation Project Fund
Inadequate resources, data, and infrastructure in half of the world’s most vulnerable countries are restricting their access to urgently-needed climate adaptation dollars from the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF), a new study shows.

Energy Revolution Is Here, But Depends on ‘Imaginative’ Government Action
Limiting climate change will require an unprecedented global movement to make low-carbon technologies the norm. Yet in many places, transitions to clean energy technologies have succeeded far beyond expectations, writes Michael Grubb, professor of energy and climate change at University College London, in a post for The Conversation.

Private Finance Turns to Carbon Storage ‘Unicorns’ as Climate Program Dollars Lag
Private financiers in the United States are turning their investment focus to a menu of sometimes questionable carbon storage technologies, while government funding for more immediate carbon reduction options—like the climate components of the Biden administration’s Build Back Better bill—languishes in legislatures.

Opinion: Ontario’s New ‘Carbon Tax’ Looks Like the One Doug Ford Fought
“We’re fighting the carbon tax because it hurts seniors, workers, families, and small businesses,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted in 2019. Which makes it all the more interesting that Ford’s government instituted a new Ontario “carbon tax” this year, and it looks a lot like what he campaigned against, writes green economy lawyer Marc Goldgrub.

Biodiversity Loss Threatens Half of Cities’ GDP, Prompting Call for ‘Nature-Positive’ Infrastructure
Some 44% of global urban GDP is at risk thanks to environmental degradation caused by the exponential growth of cities since 2000, says a new report. But “nature-positive” investment could be profoundly regenerative, creating nearly 60 million jobs and generating more than US$1.5 trillion in revenues by 2030.

Canada’s Biggest Climate Polluters Pay Lowest Carbon Prices, Research Shows
Canada is heralded as having one of the most ambitious prices on carbon in the world, rising from its current C$40 per tonne to $170 by 2030. But large industrial emitters pay only a tiny fraction of it, Corporate Knights reports.

UK Stops Nuclear Reprocessing, but Sellafield Plant to Remain Open for Decades
Seventy years after the United Kingdom first began extracting plutonium from spent uranium fuel to make nuclear weapons, the industry is finally calling a halt to reprocessing, leaving the country with 120 tons of the metal, the biggest stockpile in the world. However, the government has no idea what to do with it.

Faster Climate Action Can Smooth Out Financial Sector Shocks in Shift Off Carbon
Canada’s financial sector could be exposed to significant economic shocks from the transition to lower emissions, but faster climate action can smooth out those impacts, according to early scenario modelling from the Bank of Canada and the banking regulator.

Germany’s G7 Presidency Could Produce ‘Grand Bargain’ on Climate, Global Health
Germany’s term in the G7 presidency could be the beginning of a “grand bargain” on climate and international health among the world’s richest nations if the new government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz follows through on plans to push for a global “climate club” over the next year.

IEA Praises Canada’s ‘Bold’ Climate Policies Despite 26% Rise in Fossil Emissions
The International Energy Agency praised yesterday Canada for a set of “bold” climate policies that point toward “an ambitious transformation of its energy system,” despite its finding that increased fossil fuel production drove up the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions 26% between 2000 and 2019.

Opinion: Ontario Stands Out as ‘Climate Hooligan’ Amid Patchwork of Provincial Policies
As the International Energy Agency points out in its report this week, how provinces respond to the climate emergency has a huge bearing on whether Canada as a whole will achieve its 2030 climate targets. And by any accounting, Ontario is a climate laggard, more a climate hooligan. The reason is Premier Doug Ford’s Conservative government.

Calls for Climate Justice Rise As Extreme Weather Repeatedly Shatters The Philippines
Four hundred people killed and over half a million displaced, 830,000 houses damaged, and millions of dollars’ worth of crops, farmland and infrastructure wrecked—that’s the price the Philippines paid for greenhouse gas emissions from the developed world, when a climate-aggravated Typhoon Rai hit its coast last December.

Explainer: Canada Wrestles with Carbon Border Adjustments
Countries like Canada with self-declared climate ambitions face a serious challenge: how to ensure their emission reduction plans don’t drive industries and investment to countries with weaker carbon standards and lower costs. The federal government is currently consulting on how to prevent this “leakage” and keep Canadian industry competitive with a tool known as border carbon adjustments (BCA).

‘Everything Living is Dying’ After Decades of War, Fossil Extraction, Poverty in Iraq
It’s 6:00 PM and the pink-tinged skies turn black above Agolan, a village on the outskirts of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Thick plumes of smoke have begun to billow out of dozens of flaring towers, part of an oil refinery owned by an Iraqi energy company called the KAR Group. The towers are just about 150 feet from where 60-year-old Kamila Rashid stands on the front porch of her house. She looks squarely at the oil plant, which sits on what she says used to be her family’s land.

ANALYSIS: Coastal GasLink, LNG Controversies Will Haunt B.C. NDP in 2022
A major piece of unfinished business left behind at the end of last year looks certain to haunt British Columbia in 2022, as the province’s NDP government faces determined Indigenous opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline and the project itself runs into serious financial headwinds.

Ontario Grid Faces 375% Emissions Increase as Ford Government Embraces New Gas Plants
Ontario is on track for a 375% increase in power sector emissions between 2017 and 2030 if it carries through with a plan to increase its reliance on natural gas power plants, concludes an analysis of the Annual Planning Outlook published last month by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).

East Africa Communities Contend with Severe Climate Risk, Question ‘Colonial’ Project Priorities
Across East Africa, communities are struggling against the dual realities of flooding and drought as climate change intensifies an Indian Ocean weather pattern, with some of them forced to push back against conservation project priorities they say are more concerned for the well-being of wildlife than for the people struggling to adapt.

Solar on Farmland Holds Promise for India’s Renewables Sector: IEEFA
India’s vast expanses of farmland are fertile ground for a novel type of fruit—namely solar power—according to a recent report that offers agrivoltaics (solar panels installed on agricultural land) as a solution for a nation reckoning with significant energy demands in the coming decades.

Green Resilience Project Pinpoints Basic Income as ‘Key to the Climate Plan Canada Needs’
A series of grassroot conversations in communities across Canada is building a picture of how a universal basic income can lay the groundwork for faster, deeper carbon cuts, by boosting local resilience and helping to ease uncertainties around the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Quebec’s Hydropower Era Ends as Last Big Megaproject Nears Completion
Quebec is close to completing what will likely be the last big hydroelectric dam it ever builds, bringing an end to a decades-long era when hydro development was often seen as synonymous with the province’s growing economic power and cultural pride.

Trudeau Mandate Letters Boost Deep Retrofits and Tougher Building Code, Ignore Pipelines
Deep energy retrofits and tougher building code standards emerged as winners, while fossil fuel pipelines received no attention at all, as policy analysts dug more deeply into the ministerial mandate letters released in mid-December by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

$11 Million Per Minute in Fossil Subsidies ‘Add Fuel to the Fire’, IMF Study Showed
October 7, 2021: The coal, oil, and gas industries received US$5.9 trillion in worldwide subsidies in 2020—a mind-bending $11.2 million per minute, every minute of every hour of every day in the year—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed.

Fossil Exec Decried ‘Shot in the Eye’ as Guilbeault Opened Climate Plan Consultation
December 6, 2021: An oil and gas emissions cap, reduced methane emissions, zero-emission vehicles, and a net-zero power grid were all on the table for public consultation, after Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault announced a three-month delay in publishing the Trudeau government’s carbon reduction plan under the new climate accountability law.

New Carbon Capture Tax Credit Would Drive Higher Emissions, Could Mislead Investors
March 24, 2021: A new federal incentive, modelled on a U.S. tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage, would be tailor-made to drive higher greenhouse gas emissions and could produce unexpected surprises for private investors, a veteran U.S. energy consultant and attorney told The Energy Mix.

LNG Canada On Track to Become ‘Financial Albatross’, Analysts Warned
November 25, 2021: British Columbia’s only confirmed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal may be on its way to becoming a “financial albatross”, even as a developer continues to tout a second LNG project in Howe Sound, just north of Vancouver.

Careful What You Wish For: New Pipeline Drives Down Export Prices for Alberta Fossils
October 31, 2021: After years of blaming limited pipeline access for the low price they’ve had to charge for their product, Alberta fossil producers were running into another problem by mid-fall: U.S. refineries don’t particularly like the product.

Study Showed Governments’ Oil and Gas Revenue Crashing as Decarbonization Takes Hold
February 12, 2021: Canadian governments stand to lose more than half of their revenue from oil and gas activities through 2040, and nearly nine-tenths of the taxes and royalties the industry says they will collect, as the global economy decarbonizes and shifts away from fossil fuel production, the UK-based Carbon Tracker Initiative concluded in an analysis released exclusively to The Energy Mix.

IEA Urged Faster Fossil Phaseout, More Renewables Investment to Keep 1.5°C Within Reach
October 13, 2021: While the world’s fossil fuel use could peak in the next few years, countries’ climate pledges as of mid-October covered “less than 20% of the gap in emissions reductions that needs to be closed by 2030 to keep a 1.5°C path within reach,” the International Energy Agency declared, in a breakthrough edition of its annual World Energy Outlook.

Texas Was ‘Seconds and Minutes’ from Months-Long Blackouts, Grid Operator Admitted
February 19, 2021: Some 700 people died, hundreds of thousands of homes were still without power, half of the state was under a boil water order, racialized communities were bearing the brunt, and the electricity system operator admitted it had only narrowly averted months-long blackouts as Texas began taking stock of a rolling disaster brought on by climate-driven severe weather and ideologically-driven grid deregulation.

Canada Must Leave 83% of Fossil Fuels in the Ground in Latest 1.5°C Scenario
September 9, 2021: Canada must leave 83% of its fossil fuel reserves and 84% of its tar sands/oil sands in the ground if the world is to have even a 50% chance of holding average global warming to 1.5°C, according to a paper published in the prestigious journal Nature.

Major Canadian Solar Firm Denied Reports of Forced Labour
January 31, 2021: A Canadian solar company claimed no Uyghurs were employed at its 30-MW solar farm in China’s Xinjiang region, nor were any members of the persecuted Muslim community being forced into labour anywhere along its solar supply chain. But human rights observers said that last assertion didn’t stand up to the evidence.

Trudeau’s #Elxn44 Announcement Meant End of Oil and Gas Expansion
August 29, 2021: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promise to cap oil and gas sector emissions at today’s levels and set five-year targets to reduce them beginning in 2025 amounted to the end of fossil fuel expansion in Canada, a leading climate advocate said.

Deep Retrofit Program Could Fix Every Canadian Building by 2035, Supply Enough Electricity for 10 Million EV’s
June 25, 2021: Taking on an audacious “national retrofit mission” would enable Canada to upgrade every building in the country by 2035, eliminate their fossil fuel consumption by 2050, make energy poverty a thing of the past, and free up 50 terawatt-hours of electricity for other uses—enough to eliminate 60 million tonnes of carbon pollution per year if it were used to power 10 million electric vehicles, according to analysis by Efficiency Canada.

Fossils Create Less than 1% of Canadian Jobs, Making 20-Year Phaseout ‘Very Feasible’, Study Concluded
January 20, 2021: The Canadian economy has added 42 new jobs for each one it has lost in fossil fuels since 2014, and a 20-year industry phaseout would only reduce fossil employment by about 8,500 positions per year—as many as the country usually creates every 10 days—concluded economist Jim Stanford in an analysis published by Toronto-based Environmental Defence.

Two-Thirds of Canadian Oil and Gas Workers Want Net-Zero Jobs
July 14, 2021: More than two-thirds of Canadian fossil fuel workers are interested in jobs in a net-zero economy, 58% see themselves thriving in that economy, and nearly nine in 10 want training and upskilling for net-zero employment, according to a groundbreaking survey released by Edmonton-based Iron & Earth.

Toronto Endorsed Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty, Adopted New Building Retrofit Standards
July 15, 2021: Toronto city councillors carried off a two-fer in a single 24-hour period, adopting two new policies to accelerate energy-efficient building retrofits before endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty on a 22-2 vote.

Banks Decide for Themselves How Net-Zero Works in Carney’s $130-Trillion Alliance
November 3, 2021: UN climate finance envoy Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero only brought together a highly-touted US$130 trillion in global financial clout over 30 years by assuring participating institutions they could set their own pathways to achieving net-zero, with or without a commitment to end fossil fuel investment, then counting on sustained public attention to keep them on track.

Fossil Emissions Cap, 75% Methane Cut Lead Guilbeault’s 39-Point Mandate Letter from Trudeau
A cap on oil and gas emissions, a 75% methane reduction this decade, a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, a mandated 50% target for electric vehicle sales by 2030, and a renewed commitment to international climate finance are among the elements of the mandate letter issued to Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault Thursday afternoon by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Opinion: Nuclear Plants Masquerading as Climate-Friendly Shouldn’t Qualify for Green Finance
Bruce Power’s recent issuance of C$500 million in green bonds to help extend the life of Ontario’s biggest nuclear power plant is being touted as a critical step toward decarbonization. But it could also be seen as a dangerous and time wasting dead-end, a corruption of the very notion of green financing.

Take ‘Concrete, Rapid Steps’ to Decarbonize, Investors Urge Big Five Canadian Banks
Aligning climate targets with a 1.5°C future, aiming to at least halve absolute emissions by 2030, and issuing annual reports on the climate impacts of investments are among the best practices put forward for Canada’s five biggest banks in a report issued yesterday by Investors for Paris Compliance.

Big Oil Buckles In Louisiana, Spotlighting the Need for Just Transition
In the very crosshairs of the climate crisis, and still in the grip of a self-interested fossil sector, Louisiana is in desperate need of a just transition, with roughly 20 oil refineries shut down since a 1980s production peak and 25,000 oil workers losing their jobs since 2014.

Global Task Force Mobilizes to Halt Commodities-Driven Deforestation
A group of countries led by the United Kingdom and Indonesia say they are launching a new partnership aiming to protect tropical rainforests, meet growing demand for commodities like palm, soy, and timber—widely criticized for their devastating impact on forests—and preserve the livelihoods of growers, Indigenous farmers, and local communities.

New York’s Right to Healthful Environment Sets Stage For Aggressive Climate Action
Nearly 70% of New York voters have backed an amendment to the state’s climate law to grant all residents the right “to clean air and water and a healthful environment,” potentially laying the groundwork for lawsuits against fossil fuel polluters and developers.

German Coalition Government Pledges More Renewables, Hedges on Faster Coal Exit
An agreement reached by Germany’s new three-way coalition of the Social Democratic (SDP), Green, and Free Democratic (FDP) parties commits to phase out coal earlier than previously planned and increase the country’s renewable energy capacity.

Community Solar ‘Blesses Families’ with Lower Energy Costs, Minneapolis Bishop Proclaims
Strolling his church’s rooftop among 630 solar panels, Bishop Richard Howell Jr. of north Minneapolis acknowledged climate change isn’t the most pressing concern for his predominantly Black congregation—even though it disproportionately harms people of colour and the poor. Yet his Shiloh Temple International Ministries welcomed the opportunity to become one of many community solar providers popping up around the U.S. amid surging demand for renewable energy, The Associated Press reports.