Canada’s Climate Policies Lead to Energy Insecurity: Think Tank

An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 21, 2014. Reuters/Todd Korol/File Photo

Canada’s current climate policies, outlined in a number of federal plans that have been introduced over the past several years, could cause future energy insecurity while increasing oil and gas prices, says a new paper.

“Oil and gas are vital to our mutual security and our energy advantages should not be frittered away,” reads the paper “The Fallacies Undermining Energy Security” published by the Fraser Institute on Nov. 24.

“The wrong climate policy at the wrong time gave Russian President Vladimir Putin an undeserved financial bonus,” says the paper, which was penned by former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s chief of staff Derek Burney, who also served for some time as Canada’s ambassador to the United States.

Burney was also named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1993.

“Canada has made no moves to strengthen energy security. Instead, it has doubled down on climate change, increasing the carbon tax and announcing a $9.1 billion plan to reduce carbon emissions by at least 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030,” Burney wrote.

The federal government’s current climate plan, introduced in December 2020, also outlines a goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

En route to achieving that goal, Ottawa first hopes to reduce national GHG emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector by at least 40 percent by 2025.

“Expecting the goal to be met by relying on such renewables as wind, solar, and biomass stretches credulity,” Burney said. “The fact that the plan was presented without a detailed analysis of the economic consequences is irresponsible.”

The federal government has acknowledged that its climate goals are ambitious, but Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault maintains they are necessary.

“There is no substitute for showing up, engaging, and pushing policy plans forward,” he said in a news release while attending the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23.

“We each need to accelerate our timelines. Canada matters in the global fight to combat climate change.”

Energy and Agriculture

Guilbeault announced in mid-November that the federal government would be introducing more climate regulations in the near future targeting Canada’s GHG emissions in the country’s oil and gas sector.

The new regulations will introduce an emissions cap on the sector and also require those working in the sector to adopt new practices aligned with Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

The emissions cap will target only emissions, says the federal government, “and will not be a cap on oil and gas production.”

“It will maximize opportunities to invest in decarbonizing the sector while accounting for evolving energy security considerations,” says a government paper titled “Oil and gas emissions cap.”

In addition to emissions reduction measures in the energy sector, the federal government has also introduced voluntary emissions reduction targets for farmers across the country.

Reducing nitrogen emissions associated with farmers’ use of fertilizer by 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030 is part of the government’s climate plan to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2030.

The Department of Agriculture has said farmers will not be required to adhere to the fertilizer emissions reduction targets.

“The objective of the national target for fertilizers is to reduce emissions, not to establish a mandatory reduction in fertilizer use,” said Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in a previous email to The Epoch Times.

“It is intended to be achieved while maintaining or improving yields.”