Opinion

Columnist Max Fawcett wonders why the Alberta government can't face reality and stop trying to revive the Northern Gateway pipeline project.

We need a new environmental protection law for a new century, and there have been many substantive recommendations from Canadians, environmental groups, industry and parliamentarians, writes Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. Now is the time to get the job done.

"The refusal of large numbers of people to trade long-term benefits for short-term conveniences doesn’t augur well for our shared future," writes columnist Max Fawcett.

"Jason Kenney, who understands how Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms works better than most, now has to exemplify one of its most important sections," writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Given the rapidly escalating climate crisis, it comes as little surprise that some shareholders have proposed a resolution urging RBC to implement time-bound greenhouse gas reduction targets, writes fossil fuel divestment organizer Evelyn Austin.

By ceding the climate ground to Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are allowing him to wrongly define what climate action looks like, writes Cameron Fenton, Canada team lead with 350.org.

The energy needs of Eastern Canada largely depend on a leaky old pipeline operated Enbridge, writes journalist and author Trevor Greene.

The Progressive Conservatives have made "conflicts of interest and favours for friends a key part of its governing brand."

Policies are urgently needed to reduce greenhouse gases by at least seven per cent each year from now to 2030 and beyond, writes Ralph Martin.

Rarely has Jason Kenney's government been more explicit in its back-to-the-future approach to governing than with its new proposed K-6 curriculum, which takes the government’s atavistic approach to a whole different level, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Martin Hellman and Vinton Cerf may disagree on how to view the issue, but both conclude that the risk of a nuclear war is unacceptably high and risk reduction measures are urgently needed.

The government says it will focus on building a clean economy in its 2021 budget. Establishing a just transition framework to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is long overdue, writes Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

"A key indicator that a government understands the climate emergency is a willingness to tell the truth," writes columnist Seth Klein. "In Alberta’s case, that doesn’t mean we have to shut down the oilsands tomorrow. But it does mean admitting the oil and gas sector needs to be carefully and thoughtfully managed for wind-down over the next 20 to 30 years."

"I would dearly welcome the return of an Alberta NDP government in 2023," writes columnist Seth Klein. "But as someone who is deeply anxious about the climate emergency, I also wonder whether a second Notley government would be prepared to tackle the climate crisis more aggressively than during its first incarnation."

Organizations like CAPP and the API are welcome to make this the hill they die on, of course. But there’s a growing army of people, many of them on Bay and Wall streets, who will be more than happy to put a sword through their hearts. It’s up to the companies that fund those organizations, both here in Canada and in the United States, to decide whether they want to die there with them or not.