Going, Going, No - Not Quite Yet

 

We've heard it before so many times. Mankind is pushing the planet over the abyss on climate change. If we don't mend our ways - and soon - we'll be sorry.

It's a message we've heard several times from the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres.  On the opening day of the G7 pow wow, Gutteres has issued a new warning.

“We still have time, but we are on the verge. When you’re on the verge of the abyss, you need to make sure your next step is in the right direction.”

What has the Sec-Gen exorcised is the behaviour of the affluent nations since the pandemic hit. He complains they've been pumping vastly more money into fossil fuel ventures than the pittance they have invested in clean energy.

“I’m more than disappointed, I’m worried about the consequences. We need to make sure we reverse the trends, not maintain the trends. It’s now clear we are coming to a point of no return.

“To spend these trillions of dollars and not use this occasion to reverse the trends and massively invest in the green economy will be an unforgivable lost opportunity.”

But while the G7 countries have agreed to stop the international financing of coal, the world’s wealthiest nations are pouring billions of dollars into developing gas, another fossil fuel, in the global south at a rate four times that of finance supporting wind or solar projects. With economies starting to reopen, planet-heating emissions are expected to jump by the second biggest annual rise in history in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.

Mr. Guteres wants an immediate end to fossil fuel subsidies plus hefty carbon prices/taxes. 

"If we do these things, many of the investments made to fossil fuels in the recovery phase will obviously not be profitable. They will be stranded assets with no future.”

The good news is that the Secretary General is right. Government subsidies are the life support for the fossil fuel industry. No subsidies (corporate welfare) plus carbon taxes (polluter pays) and the charade is over.

Kinder Morgan, the unindicted Enron alumni, saw the writing on the wall when they chose to walk from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.  Maybe they also knew that Trudeau would panic and send Morneau, cap in hand, to Texas with the government chequebook. Once they knew they had Ottawa on the hook they even asked for - and got - a price well above market value. They played the federal government for suckers and it was a winning bet.

What would it mean for Ottawa to a) cancel fossil energy subsidies and b) impose meaningful carbon taxes? Does Ottawa have the sand to turn Athabasca into a disastrous stranded asset? No, of course not.

Which brings us to the ultimate question. Assuming Antonio Guterres is right and we are perched on the verge of an abyss what are we going to do when "going, going" becomes "gone"?

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