A Strategic Energy Plan

By Eric Rempel

Denmark has one, Vermont has one, Ontario has one, Nova Scotia has one, and Manitoba has one [sort of]. Canada does not have one. I'm talking about a strategic energy plan. To some extent the absence of strategic energy plans is understandable in that until recently no one thought of the need for such a plan.

But things now are not as they were then.

There was a time when it made sense to encourage the development of the oil and natural gas potential deposits. There was a time when R&D write-offs for oil and gas development made sense. There was a time when there was little need to be concerned about the environmental effects of oil and gas production and consumption, let alone any need to discuss who should pay for these environmental effects. There was a time when it made sense to provide incentives for the development of technologies that could harness the amazingly dense  energy imbedded in “liquid petroleum”.

But that was then.

Today any thinking person knows that we have a finite amount of fossil fuel, and that we're going through it at a record rate. Any thinking person knows that the sooner we all begin working at identifying ways we can become less dependent on fossil fuel, and find ways of dealing with the pollution effects of extracting and consuming this fuel, the better it will go for us all.

Recently I was at a meeting of concerned citizens, where we talked about what could be done to help all of us transition to a lifestyle less dependent on non-renewable energy. Specifically, in this case, we were talking about what the Manitoba Government could do to foster this. In no time at all we had listed fifteen policies that would benefit all of us: improved insulation in our homes [the current PowerSmart program],  promotion of electric cars,  development of Manitoba’s biomass industry, and similar stuff.

A major problem with all such initiatives is that they cost money.

In her recent speech to the UN climate summit, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq talked about Canada’s energy strategy. She could mention only regulations on emissions from cars and trucks and from coal fired generators. That's all. No mention of action with respect to oil and gas. This comes as no surprise since we know that the Harper government's priority is expanding the development of the oil sands. Essentially Canada has no strategic energy plan to reduce non-renewable energy consumption at the federal level.

The irony is that even the two federal government initiatives mentioned [to reduce the emission of GHGs from vehicles and power generation] will need a sizable bureaucracy if they are to be effective. A simple carbon fee [returned to Canadians as a dividend] applied to the fossil fuel industry would be so much more far reaching and effective. And it would be less bureaucratic.

A carbon fee and dividend is a made-for-conservatives answer to the need for an up-to-date energy policy. But Mr. Harper has no interest in this – unfortunately.