Happy Canada Day, to my friends and family north of the 49th! In honor of the day, let’s dig into some Canadian climate news.
Yesterday marked the passing into law of the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which (among many things) gives the Canadian Paris-accord commitments the force of law. It has attracted both plaudits and criticism. Ecojustice climate program director Alan Andrews applauded the frequency of reporting, and the framework itself, for example. However Marc Lee from the Center for Policy Alternatives complained that the idea of “net-zero” has too many loopholes. Neither are wrong. It’s an important step forward.
One outcome of the new Net-Zero Emissions act is that Canada is banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel powered cars and light-duty trucks by 2035. Meanwhile, amidst the heat of the last few days, the shortage of charge stations is being acutely felt as people embark on summer road-trip vacations. That won’t be for long though. EV stations are getting built out nationwide, and in fact, just last week Parkland Canada (owner and operator of BC’s “On the Run” gas-station convenience stores) announced they would be augmenting their BC stations with up to 100 new DC fast chargers. Expect more of this, everywhere — not just Canada.
Presumably the current heat (Lytton BC, 49.6C / 121.1F on Tuesday) has been causing the skeptics to rethink their positions on climate change, as 911 calls have spiked. The Province of British Columbia has reported 486 ‘sudden and unexpected’ deaths since last Friday, and is attributing those to the sudden and extreme heat. Back to “normal” for Canada Day though. It’ll be toasty on the prairies (36C in Calgary, 32C in Winnipeg), a balmy 23C in Vancouver, 24C with thunder storms in Toronto, and similar in the maritimes.
Happy Canada Day, friends!
