Thread by @steve_boots

So I wanted to talk a bit about the climate today, and how our government seems to have no interest at all in dealing with it. So I tried to read through the official climate plan, and…hoo boy. It’s a real piece of work. A thread.

When you follow the link, you’re shown the single stupidest chart you’ll see in your entire life. Comparing a small province to the entire global population is intentionally misleading. You’re then treated to a video of Brad Wall talking about the plan.

saskatchewan.ca/government/new…

I know it's an older news release, but not much as changed and Moe has barely talked about the plan. I mean, he promised a new “made in Saskatchewan plan” as soon as possible. In March. So, don't hold your breath.

thestarphoenix.com/news/saskatche…

I read the entire white paper. It is agonizing. It is 53 pages of finger pointing and deflection. Our government’s position is basically “we should get more credit for what we’re already doing”, “carbon tax bad”, and “CCS is the only solution”.

Then I went through their climate change strategy. Key points are, obviously, Carbon Capture and Sequestration and hating on a carbon tax. Then they focus tons on “resiliency”. Which seems to translate to “not doing anything, and just living with the consequences.”

For a smarter breakdown than mine, check out CCPA’s response linked here.

A few things. First, CCS is an impractical use of time and money. Essentially we are pulling CO2 out of the air, and pumping it into porous rocks in the ground, storing it.

policyalternatives.ca/publications/r…

The reason Scott Moe and the SP are so obsessed with it is because they want to use the gasses sequestered to extract more oil from that porous rock.

fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-c…

This is why the government keeps advertising it as “storage and utilization”. The utilization part means it isn't really helping with the overall level of CO2 in the environment.

saskatchewan.ca/government/new…

Like everything they do, it’s a shell game. If you remove CO2 from the air, and use it to extract more oil, which releases EVEN MORE CO2, you’ve added more net CO2. And they are giving subsidies to oil companies to do it.

saskatchewan.ca/government/new…

Even worse? We’ve already tried it, and it doesn’t work. We have an existing CCS facility that doesn’t even come close to its targets. It’s supposed to capture 90% of carbon, but it’s actually closer to 45%.

cbc.ca/news/canada/sa…

This is all just an elaborate plan to give free money to oil companies to extract more oil. It doesn’t meaningfully lower carbon emissions, it causes a net increase. But the oil is burned elsewhere, so it doesn’t show up on our ledger.

So what is the NDPs answer? Well, it’s kind of hard to figure out. They have a renew Sk plan, but…I mean…just have a look. It’s a start, but it’s very, very limited.

saskndp.ca/renewsaskatche…

So we do we do? I'm not sure, I'm not a climate expert. I'd love to hear from someone. What I am certain of is that Saskatchewan's future has to come from wind and solar. We have SO MUCH potential.

kubyenergy.ca/blog/wind-and-…

Moe will point at small nuclear reactors as our best option, but to the shock of nobody, it's a distraction to avoid real action. We're nowhere near able to build one in SK, and the tech isn't even financially viable yet. It's just his way of punting.

cleantechnica.com/2021/05/03/sma…

So what's the answer? I'm not sure. This report from the environmental society offers good suggestions. It's very comprehensive, and really informative. I can't encourage you enough to read it. Best policy doc I've come across in a while.

environmentalsociety.ca/prairie-resili…

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