Canada’s Climate Plan In Free Fall As Alberta Bails Out

Climate Dispatch
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

The Canadian province of Alberta announced Thursday it would pull out of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s flagship climate change initiative in protest against a court ruling against the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. “With the Trans Mountain halted and the work on it halted until the federal government gets its act together, Alberta is pulling out of the federal climate plan,” Premier Rachel Notley told reporters in a live address Thursday evening. — AFP, 31 August 2018

In addition to Alberta, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario in mid-July announced an alliance against the carbon tax, which they believe is harmful to the economy. Ontario — Canada’s richest and most populous province — elected a climate-skeptic prime minister in June, who is working to dismantle climate change policies. — AFP, 31 August 2018

In a move to help alleviate some financial strain from both families and small businesses across Ontario, the Ford government announced that it will be eliminating the carbon tax from natural gas rates, but critics of the announcement say it’s “short-sighted” that will harm the environment in the long-run. — Toronto City News, 30 August 2018

This summer’s data shows a different truth. Although more wind turbines and solar plants were installed in Germany than in the previous year, the amount of green electricity generated fell. Lignite and, above all, coal-fired power plants had to step in to meet the demand for electricity. — Andreas Mihm, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 29 August 2018

Early progress on the Energiewende, however, has given way to backsliding as a variety of snowballing issues undermine German efforts to cut emissions. Germany has yet to develop a concrete plan to deal with the inevitable economic effects of a coal phase-out, while its power grid is desperately insufficient to handle the added influx of renewable power it’s committed to.

Throwing another wrench in the works, a report this week indicated that if Germany pulls away from coal, its neighbors in Europe won’t be able to help make up for power supply shortages. Without convincing alternatives, coal is here to stay. — Henry St George, EU Reporter, 30 August 2018

Science is a human enterprise full of the imperfections of humanity. It’s more competitive than it’s ever been and there are more scientists than ever. So many want to communicate their science and this is wonderful. But the media, especially social media, can bring out a nasty streak in some, especially when they take the moral high ground: ‘Some people should not be debated.’ ‘We are too right to be challenged.’ ‘Excommunicate!’ Not debating people you don’t agree with is the antithesis not only of science but of civilization. — Dr. David Whitehouse, GWPF Science Editor, 30 August 2018

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Originally published at climatechangedispatch.com on August 31, 2018.

Written by

Thomas Richard -- Science and environmental news, commentator, opinions.

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