Climate Change, Carbon Taxes, Decarbonization and ENGOs – Page 7

Junk Science Week: Net Zero Edition — Vaclav Smil: Why net-zero 2050 really won’t work – by Vaclav Smil (Financial Post – June 21, 2022)

June 22, 2022

Complete decarbonization of the global economy is only conceivable at the cost of unthinkable economic retreat

How will we deal with unfolding climate change? There is now a widespread consensus that we need to do something to prevent many highly undesirable consequences. But what kind of action, what sort of behavioural transformation would work best?

For those who ignore the energetic and material imperatives of our world, those who prefer mantras of green solutions to understanding how we have come to this point, the prescription is easy: just decarbonize — switch from burning fossil carbon to converting inexhaustible flows of renewable energies.

Internal DND study calls green technology minerals 21st-century ‘oil weapon’ – by Chris Arsenault and Philippe Le Billon (CBC News Business – June 20, 2022)

June 21, 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Skyrocketing demand for copper, lithium and rare earths sparks geopolitical race, worrying environmentalists

Minerals needed to power the green transition from fossil fuels could become “the 21st-century version of the ‘oil weapon,'” warns an internal study commissioned by Canada’s Department of National Defence.

There is widespread agreement among scientists that drastic cuts in fossil fuel consumption are needed to stave off catastrophic climate change — and a transition to electric cars, wind and solar power form key pillars of this shift.

World cannot allow Russia, China to dominate critical minerals market: Wilkinson – by Mia Rabson (Victoria Timines Colonist/Canadian Press – June 16, 2022)

June 16, 2022

https://www.timescolonist.com/

OTTAWA — The strategic mistake made in allowing Russia to have global dominance in oil and gas cannot be repeated as the world looks to massively ramp up production of critical minerals, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson asserted this week.

Demand for critical minerals and metals — such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and copper — is exploding as demand climbs for everything from smartphones and laptops to wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars.

OPINION: So much for the electric vehicle revolution. You cannot make the machines without the metals that power them – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – May 13, 2022)

May 16, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Any successful politician is adept at finding the one bit of good news floating in the ocean of despair, then gushing about it to try to drown our worries.

So it is with U.S. President Joe Biden. A few weeks ago, when the war in Ukraine was propelling gasoline and diesel prices ever higher – regular gas hit a record average of US$4.43 a gallon on Friday – he suggested that painful pump prices will speed the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), fear not. Voila – no more hard decisions about filling your SUV or feeding your kids.

Sudbury election file: City has key role in critical minerals, Green candidate says -by Staff (Sudbury Star – April 30, 2022)

May 2, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Ford government “kneecapped” Laurentian University and its ability to conduct mining research and development when it was needed the most, the Green Party’s Sudbury candidate says.

Referring to a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, David Robinson said the world must cut emissions to fight climate change. A key part of that is the need for critical minerals for such things as batteries used in electric vehicles.

The next global mental-health crisis is about climate change – by Britt Wray (Toronto Star – April 28, 2022)

May 2, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

COVID created a second, mental-health pandemic. The one sparked by climate change will be worse. And already young people are the ones hit hardest

In the summer of 2019 — Australia’s infamous Black Summer—I texted with my friend Catherine, who lives in Sydney, from my comfortable home in Toronto. Her country was engulfed in bushfires. Over that summer more than 12 million acres burned and an estimated 3 billion animals were killed or displaced, and many of us watched it unfold in real time with a deep sense of horror.

Catherine and I sent messages back and forth on WhatsApp as 2019 turned into 2020 and the flames did not subside. What I remember most from that time is the mixed feeling of despair and “survivor guilt.”

U.S. Energy Secretary touts continental alliance to thwart ‘petro-dictators’ – by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – April 26, 2022)

April 28, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The United States backs a continental approach to clean energy that would see the U.S. and Canada working together on critical minerals and other resources to bolster security against threats such as the war in Ukraine, says U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

“One thousand per cent,” Ms. Granholm said when asked if she envisioned a dual-nation, continental approach to energy concerns, including securing minerals needed to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Why does Ottawa’s ‘Green Bond’ program exclude nuclear, one of the cleanest of all energy sources? – by Tim Armstrong (Toronto Star – April 23, 2022)

April 27, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

So far, the federal government hasn’t explained why nuclear energy has been excluded from its recent ‘Green Bonds,’ loans to expand sources of clean energy in Canada

The federal budget, recognizing the urgent need to fight climate change, includes new, positive incentives for the development of clean energy.

But the nuclear energy leadership, labour, and management alike, raise serious questions as to the budget’s failure to remove the sector’s exclusion of the right to apply for funding under the government’s $5 billion Green Bond Framework (GBF).

EV policy is the Green New Steal – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – April 6, 2022)

April 6, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Remember the joke about GM becoming Government Motors? Guess what!

A few years ago, a blog for the socialist left in Canada known as The Bullet published a commentary by U.S. activist Chris Kutalik under the headline “Make GM Government Motors Again.” The mention of “again” was a reference to the 2009 Obama administration’s US$80-billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

Ottawa and the province of Ontario chipped in with a $13.5-billion purchase of shares in the bankrupt Canadian branches of GM and Chrysler, eventually selling back to the companies in 2015 at a loss of about $3 billion.

The federal government’s climate plan is heavy on targets, slim on details – by Ryan Tumilty and Catherine Lévesque (National Post – March 30, 2022)

March 30, 2022

https://nationalpost.com/

OTTAWA – The federal government set firm targets for massive emissions cuts in Canada’s oil and gas industry Tuesday, but offered little detail about how it will help the industry make those steep reductions.

Unveiling the plan at a press conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was confident Canadian companies would find ways to meet the targets. “With record profits, this is the moment for the oil and gas sector to invest in the sustainable future that will be good for business, good for communities, and good for our future,” Trudeau said.

Is nuclear energy green or not? Federal government sending conflicting messages, critics say – by Ryan Tumilty (National Post – March 18, 2022)

March 22, 2022

https://nationalpost.com/

The Liberal government is being accused of sending conflicting messages about the nuclear industry and how it can help adapt to a green environment. The week the Liberal government put $27.2 million into a promising new small modular nuclear reactor — but at the same time its green bond program, meant to boost environmentally-friendly programs, specifically excludes investments in nuclear power.

The conflict shows mixed support at best for the industry, say critics. Chris Keefer, president of Canadians for Nuclear Energy, said excluding nuclear from green bonds did not make sense, because Ontario had shown it could help decarbonize a grid.

Ontario’s Green party leader sees electric future – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – March 16, 2022)

March 17, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The leader of the Ontario Green Party toured the Nickel City on Wednesday to meet with researchers and mining innovators who are putting the city’s signature industry on a greener path.

“The minerals that Sudbury produces are vital to electrifying transportation and battery storage to make renewable energy systems lower-cost and more efficient,” said Mike Schreiner, following a stop at a vantage point overlooking the smelter stacks in Copper Cliff. “So Sudbury is going to play a critical role in the new climate economy.”

On the electric ‘Road to 2035’ without a map – by Terence Corcoran (Financial Post – March 16, 2022)

March 16, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Roll up the windows and keep your eyes focused on the road ahead, the Road to 2035. That’s what Canadian auto industry associations call the new highway that aims to take car drivers into a future world where all passenger cars and light trucks sold will be zero-emission electric by 2035.

The industry’s EV project was announced last week by auto executives from the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association and Global Automakers of Canada. But it was a rough start for Road to 2035, in the sense that the news received little media coverage at a time when the Ukrainian war and economic crisis had taken over the headlines.

How the war in Ukraine will shape Canada’s energy and climate policies – by Mark Winfield (Toronto Star – March 12, 2022)

March 14, 2022

https://www.thestar.com

Canada could be asked to increase oil and natural gas production, presenting challenges for Canada’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Major wars are often watershed moments in history. Their outcomes define governance structures, politics and policy directions for decades, even centuries, to come. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine already seems certain to have these kinds of effects at the national, regional and global scales.

The invasion has quickly come to dominate political and policy agendas, displacing the focus from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. But the war in Ukraine will have major implications for these questions, particularly around energy and climate change, for Canada and the rest of the world, far into the future.

Is there a new supercycle in metals and minerals? – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – February 2022)

February 25, 2022

https://www.ft.com/

Low-carbon policies stoke demand for lithium, cobalt and copper, but investors must judge whether the boom will last

For years BHP has focused on investing in safe and stable countries such as Australia, Chile and Canada. But faced with the challenge of supplying the metals and minerals that will be needed in the shift to the low-carbon economy, the world’s biggest mining company is starting to take on more risk.

It has already taken a stake in SolGold, a London-listed explorer seeking to develop a huge underground copper deposit in Ecuador and last month threw its considerable weight behind a huge nickel project in a remote part of Tanzania as part of a strategy to “capture opportunities in future-facing commodities”.