I'm looking forward to talking climate and carbon with @ryanjespersen at 10.40 Alberta time today! In preparation, here's a short thread with some interesting facts about clean energy in Alberta, the Texas of Canada. (Or perhaps I should call Texas the Alberta of the US?)
@ryanjespersen Here is a map from @Pembina showing the location of all the renewable, efficiency, and clean tech projects across the province. They estimate they account for over 10k AB jobs. Source: mapreach.ca/alberta/ 
@ryanjespersen @Pembina In comparison, oil+gas in AB accounts for 173k jobs - but that number has dropped drastically from 226k in 2014. This report estimates 12,500 jobs at risk due to low commodity prices, decline in capital spending + uncertainty re getting oil+gas to market. cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina For national context, this 2016 estimate puts clean tech jobs across the country at 274k, about equal the number of oil and gas jobs ... but green jobs are growing quickly so it's likely the ratio has already shifted in 3 years. (anyone have newer data?) nationalobserver.com/2017/12/13/new…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina Alberta is third across Canadian provinces in installed wind energy at 1,445 MW but the three new wind projects being built by UK-based Renewable Energy Systems will push the total up to 1,700MW cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina This pales in comparison {ahem} to Texas who leads the US in installed wind energy, currently estimated by the @AWEA at over 26k MW with 7k under construction and 25k jobs. Source: awea.org/resources/fact…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA The FP has expressed concerns that, unlike TX + Norway, AB has had trouble diversifying its economy. In today's climate (technological, I mean), that's like gazing out over your horse fields while Henry Ford is building another assembly line in Detroit. business.financialpost.com/commodities/en…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA Complicating the transition is the fact that fossil fuels are heavily subsidized. Cdn subsidies are estimated at $34B per year but that is just what you'd expect from the granola-crunching, tree-hugging ... oops no, it's from the IMF. Source: imf.org/en/Publication…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA What's the way forward? Well, pretty much every economist in the world, including the ones who won the Nobel Prize last year, have an answer. cbc.ca/radio/asithapp…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA I'm not an economist myself; I'm a climate scientist. But I listen to the experts and with that, I'll wrap up this thread and ask @andrew_leach if he has any further thoughts or facts he'd like to contribute! We wrote this together: macleans.ca/society/enviro…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA @andrew_leach No thread would be complete without some public opinion data (thanks @PascalLeroux for the reminder and @mmildenberger for the data). This map shows what percentage of us, by riding, agree that the science is real.
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA @andrew_leach @PascalLeroux @mmildenberger And here is a map showing the percentage of us, by riding, that support a price on carbon that *begins* to offset the aforementioned $34B in subsidies to fossil fuels in Canada. Source: umontreal.ca/climat/engl/in…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA @andrew_leach @PascalLeroux @mmildenberger I would be remiss not to mention that @GretaThunberg is on her way to Alberta! calgaryherald.com/news/local-new…
@ryanjespersen @Pembina @AWEA @andrew_leach @PascalLeroux @mmildenberger @GretaThunberg And I would also like to highlight the amazing work of @IRONandEARTH, a grass-roots, oilsands-worker-led organization that is retraining Canada's energy workers for the future. More please! ironandearth.org/about_us
