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While gov'ts remain rightly focused on containing #COVID19Canada & providing support to Canadians whose livelihoods have been impacted & to #cdnbiz we also need to begin planning for stimulus & recovery. @merransmith & I have an op-ed out today that 1/ https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/08/opinion/lets-come-out-covid-19-new-economy
…lays out how we ought to approach the role of energy in our economy: we need to reorient & rebuild our energy sector with a focus on #CleanEnergy As @tomrand notes “looking in the rearview mirror is not the best way to gauge where you’re going.” The oil patch won’t return to 2/
…the halcyon boom days of the early 2000s, confronted as it is by cyclical & structural change. Modeling we did in 2019 found that over the next decade, even w sustained fossil fuel investment there would be 50,000 jobs lost. That investment now looks unlikely. It’s time to 3/
…shift from a mantra of “no barrel left behind” to one in which no oil worker or region is left behind. This can be done in ways that leverage the oilpatch’s core competencies toward new products: carbon fibre, lithium, hydrogen etc. https://medium.com/@EnergyFuturesLab/five-big-ideas-for-albertas-economic-recovery-efbc444d2c39 h/t @LabEnergy 4/
As @IEABirol put it, “rather than compounding the (coronavirus) tragedy by allowing it to hinder clean energy transitions, we need to seize the opportunity to help accelerate them.” https://www.iea.org/commentaries/put-clean-energy-at-the-heart-of-stimulus-plans-to-counter-the-coronavirus-crisis
How can we do that? 5/
How can we do that? 5/
By ensuring our governments aim stimulus at the economy they want: one with less pollution and more resilience.
Where to direct it? Renewable power, transmission, energy storage. Public transit, bike lanes. Clean fuel and renewable gas plants. EV charging stations & domestic 6/
Where to direct it? Renewable power, transmission, energy storage. Public transit, bike lanes. Clean fuel and renewable gas plants. EV charging stations & domestic 6/
…manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles, from buses to trucks to cars & SUVs. Energy efficient homes, buildings and factories.
But this is bigger than the clean energy sector. It will create new opps for Canadian-made, low-carbon concrete & steel & wood products. 7/
But this is bigger than the clean energy sector. It will create new opps for Canadian-made, low-carbon concrete & steel & wood products. 7/
We can use the metals and minerals abundant in Canada in those wind turbines, solar panels and batteries. https://cleanenergycanada.org/report/mining-clean-energy-2017/ we need support for training & retraining Canadians—some of this can start while unemployed workers are sitting at home. 8/
Bottom line: Investing in people and projects that advance the clean energy transition is how we build a resilient economy. It’s how we build the economy we want. 9/9
