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Albertans have a right to be outraged…about the $3.5 million Allan Inquiry
Last week Albertans received the fruits of the Kenney Government’s inquiry into foreign-funded “anti-Alberta” activities targeting the oil and gas industry. The $3.5 million report, a year late and a million dollars over budget, found no evidence of illegal activities or wrongdoing on the part of any individual or organization targeted by the Inquiry. When …
For climate’s sake, Canada Pension Plan needs to take a serious look at its investments
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) manages the pensions of 20 million Canadians. In a recent Corporate Mapping Project report, we found that the CPP has increased the number of shares it owns in fossil fuel companies since Canada signed the Paris Agreement five years ago. The CPP’s total fossil fuel investments across its entire portfolio …
An Insecure Future: Canada’s biggest public pensions are still banking on fossil fuels
Two of Canada’s biggest public pension plans could lead the way toward a global transition to a greener, more sustainable economy, but their commitments to climate action may be more talk than walk. The Canada Pension Plan and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec say they are serious about tackling climate change, however they continue …
Canada’s biggest public pension plans still banking on fossil fuels
VANCOUVER — The world’s leading authority on climate change says we are headed for catastrophe unless emissions are slashed quickly. Yet, two of Canada’s biggest public pension plans are still banking on fossil fuels, a new Corporate Mapping Project report shows. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du …
CPP oil investments on the rise
From unprecedented droughts to deadly heat waves, climate change is making the present—and all of our futures—less secure. The dream of a tranquil retirement is already being interrupted by nightmares such as the wildfires raging across BC and Alberta this summer. Sadly, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which was designed to enhance our retirement security, …
Regime of Obstruction: Book Excerpt
The Book Publishers Association of Alberta awarded Regime of Obstruction: How Corporate Power Blocks Energy Democracy the Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year award at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards in September 2022. Edited by William K. Carroll Athabasca University Press The book is available for purchase, free PDF download and free online reading. …
Not Well Spent: A review of $1-billion federal funding to clean up Alberta’s inactive oil and gas wells
A new report “Not Well Spent: A review of $1-billion federal funding to clean up Alberta’s inactive oil and gas wells” by the Parkland Institute and Oxfam Canada exposes how $1 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency funding transferred to the Alberta government is failing to achieve its intended social and environmental objectives. There are hundreds …
Federal COVID-19 Funding to Alberta’s Oil Patch “Not Well Spent”
EDMONTON and OTTAWA –– A new report by the Parkland Institute and Oxfam Canada exposes how $1 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency funding transferred to the Alberta government is failing to achieve its intended social and environmental objectives. When funding to clean up orphaned and abandoned oil wells in Western Canada was announced in April …
Regime of Obstruction: How Corporate Power Blocks Energy Democracy
The Book Publishers Association of Alberta awarded Regime of Obstruction: How Corporate Power Blocks Energy Democracy the Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year award at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards in September 2022. The book is available for purchase, free PDF download and free online reading. From the publisher Rapidly rising carbon emissions from …
Net zero emissions: muddying the waters or real solutions?
VANCOUVER – Increasingly, government and industry talk about “net zero” when it comes to emissions reduction targets. But what does this really mean? Reducing emissions to zero is a clear concept, but “net zero” muddies the waters in that some greenhouse gas or carbon emissions are permitted as long as they are balanced by “negative …
Dangerous Distractions: Canada’s carbon emissions and the pathway to net zero
Reducing emissions to zero is a clear concept, but “net zero” muddies the waters in that some greenhouse gas or carbon emissions are permitted as long as they are balanced by “negative emissions” or carbon removals through nature or engineered solutions. Reducing fossil fuel emissions and increasing carbon removals are the two objectives of net …
Canada’s Carbon Conundrum and the Difficult Path Forward
Since the first oil well was drilled in 1859 humans have been on a roll. Global population has increased more than six-fold and energy use per capita has grown more than nine-fold. Accompanying this explosive growth in energy use was unprecedented economic expansion— since 1965 global GDP has grown 6.8-fold and per capita GDP has …