Flawed climate plan ignores obvious option

Earlier this month, Premier Wab Kinew’s government unveiled what it characterizes as “a bold plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen communities and build a resilient, low-carbon economy that benefits all Manitobans.”

The centrepiece of the strategy is the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the province by 2050. The government says that objective will be achieved through several initiatives, including the creation of a new climate-change committee of cabinet, strengthening provincial climate-change laws, partnering with Indigenous nations on clean energy and net-zero initiatives, making Manitoba’s electricity grid net zero by 2035, expanding renewable energy generation and smart grid technology, supporting low-emission building practices and retrofits, as well as advancing sustainable agriculture programs and waste diversion strategies.

The plan appears to have the support of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, but it has also been criticized for the lack of a specific criteria to quantify how each action item will help reach the overall emissions-reduction target. Last week, professor Scott Forbes condemned the plan, with its distant goals, as having “the pretense of doing something without actually doing anything substantial.” (How to recognize climate-insincere politicians, Think Tank, Oct. 21)

The professor’s right. The plan is deep in lofty long-term objectives, but lacks a detailed, quantifiable strategy to achieve meaningful results in the nearer term. In fact, it can be viewed as a scheme that exhibits a pretense of concern about climate change, yet consigns the burden and political cost of decisive action to future governments.

There’s nothing bold about that.

Even worse, the success of the plan appears to depend in part on the success of carbon-capture utilization and storage in order to achieve the net-zero goal. That’s a huge gamble, given the widespread skepticism regarding the ability of the technology to actually do what it claims. Just last week, Winnipeg writer Alex Passey described carbon capture as “too good to be true,” and argued it is “largely a greenwashing scheme for big oil companies and polluting corporations.” (Carbon capture technology has its flaws, Think Tank,Oct. 21)

Environment Minister Mike Moyes claims his net-zero plan “is part of our economic development strategy to grow our economy,” yet the province’s new economic development strategy, which was released in late September, doesn’t even mention climate change, let alone hint at the net-zero climate plan that was unveiled just 10 days later.

That’s strange, but even more puzzling is the failure of both the economic growth and net zero plans to point to carbon trading and credits as a potential means of not only paying for climate change measures, but stimulating economic growth in the province.

While Alberta and Saskatchewan continue to rely upon hydrocarbons for electrical generation, and are promoting even greater growth of the oil and gas industry, Manitoba is bearing the cost and consequences of those actions. That includes massive wildfires, reduced crop production, and lower water levels that threaten the drinking-water supply for several communities and has caused reduced revenues for Manitoba Hydro.

While we are taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, our western neighbours are determined to increase emissions that the winds carry toward our province. The situation is putting Manitoba lives and communities at risk, and costing both the province’s government and private sector many millions of dollars annually.

Given that reality, Manitobans should be compensated for the expensive measures they are taking in order to combat the adverse impact of emissions that originate in other jurisdictions. It is unrealistic to ever expect to receive direct monetary compensation from other provinces, but it is completely realistic for the government to explore the sale of carbon credits via a carbon offset exchange in order to help fund the cost of future emissions-reduction projects, including Manitoba Hydro generation projects and upgrades.

Given the billions that Manitobans have already spent through Hydro in order to create an electrical generation system that is almost entirely green, and the billions more that will need to be spent in the next several years, the sale of carbon credits to help cover those costs seems to be a reasonable measure worth exploring.

The absence of such an obvious option from the new net-zero plan is both surprising and disappointing.

Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon. deverynrossletters@gmail.com X: @deverynross