Sudbury climate activist Cathy Orlando has strong words for the federal government in the wake of their commitment to promoting fossil fuel extraction ‘in the throes of a climate emergency’

The recent memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta is more than just unnerving, it’s a betrayal of the countless hours of work by volunteers and civil society organizations. Their efforts to hold governments accountable to climate commitments have been severely compromised by political expediency.

At Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), we’re trained to begin with appreciation grounded in factual analysis before taking action.

The industrial carbon price, though hobbled, remains a critical tool in Canada’s climate arsenal. It was at risk of being axed by an affordability crisis fueled by illegal wars in Ukraine and Iran, the escalating impacts of climate change, and the relentless drumbeat to axe it from Pierre Poilievre, the Republican Party of Alberta, and separatist factions, all amplified by social media echo chambers owned by the billionaires who sat behind Donald Trump at his inauguration.

Alberta has long dragged its feet on raising its industrial carbon price, leaving the actual price far weaker than the benchmarks set by the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. Now, Alberta will be strengthening its industrial carbon price, albeit with a lower benchmark.

It appears Canada did not make its 2017 mistake of bankrolling a pipeline. The Trans Mountain Pipeline was a boondoggle then, and the proposed new oil pipeline threatens to be another. Securing its path through British Columbia and Indigenous lands will be fraught with legal and ethical challenges.

And let’s not forget: we are in the throes of a climate emergency, with a Super El Niño poised to unleash its fury. Will banks and insurers, increasingly wary of fossil fuel risks, fund this folly? Or will they finally recognize that the age of oil and gas is drawing to a close?

The MOU includes a commitment from Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, which have been hobbled by uniquely onerous restrictions on renewables development, the province’s renewables moratorium, and regulatory changes. With Canada planning to double grid capacity by 2050 and renewable energy cheaper than fossil energy, this is good news.

If the Conservative Party of Canada had been elected, we would have seen an increase in GHGs of 771 megatonnes (Mt) of CO2e in Canada’s emissions between 2025 and 2035 (77.1 Mt annually).

The Energy Mix is reporting that the MOU will result in an increase of GHGs by 230 megatonnes through 2040 (15.3 Mt annually), and that is only if all the projects go through.

What can we do? We can give up or get cynical.

There are threads of hope in the MOU.

All politics is local, and we all have a voice.

Our financial system should not be fueling the climate crisis.

The simplest thing you can do right now is send a letter to your MP to strengthen the industrial carbon price and create stronger regulations for the financial system. You can do that here.

Be the change you wish to see. Make an effort to consume your news through traditional media. Social media is a terrible place to get your news; it is full of unaccountable lies, deliberately addictive and bad for our mental health, democracy, the climate crisis and Canadian sovereignty. Canadians have done a great job boycotting US alcohol (63 per cent reduction and travel to the USA (42 per cent reduction). We should be doing the same with our social media consumption.

Lastly, consider joining the Citizens’ Climate Lobby in June when we lobby our MPs in Ottawa (June 1–3) and in our home ridings to redirect money away from fossil fuels. Details are here.

An exciting story coming out of our June lobbying is that three youths who joined our lobbying efforts when they were 11 years old in 2018 will be lobbying with us in June. Maggie Fu, Salma Mohamad, and Sophia Mathur will be leading a display of Parachutes for the Planet on Tuesday, June 2 on Parliament Hill in the morning. The parachutes are a metaphor for a soft landing on the polycrises bearing down on all of humanity. In alignment with World Environment Day, the youth are calling for all of us to act now for the climate and for the future of all youth. The event is sponsored by Senator Mary Coyle in collaboration with Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada.

Cathy Orlando is a climate activist who lives in Greater Sudbury.