Nova Scotia 's Clean Energy Targets

Currently, the Canadian government is taking several initiatives to control climate change. In 2017, Canada signed the Paris Accord and agreed to cut 30% of carbon emissions by 2030.

We once lived in a world lush and plentiful where we enjoyed all the natural resources peacefully. However at the beginning of the industrial revolution more people moved to the cities therefore increasing their dependency load. Fastforward to today and the world has seen a drastic change in the loss of natural resources as well as a number of health related illnesses like asthma. This is mainly due to the effects from carbon pollution, greenhouse gases and global warming. Canada as a country is thought of as environmentally aware and progressive. Actually has many issues regarding this topic and if it is not taken care of it will affect the future of the nation. I care about this topic because it has to

Dr. Lorne Taylor (2012, p. 3), the chair of the Alberta Water Research Institute, states, “Organizations like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club are convincing Canadians and the world that Alberta’s oil sands are a scourge on the environment”. Environmental groups and the media are unfortunately shedding a poor light on the development of the oil sands in northern Alberta. Bob Weinhold (2011, pg. 119), a veteran environmental journalist, states “the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) panel found no evidence that people are currently being harmed by oil sands activity”. Both the environmentalist side and the oil sands producer’s side must be evaluated with an objective mind as each contains truths as well as embellishments. Taylor (2009, pg. 2) argues that a major misconception is “the province, people and industry of Alberta

The reason this question has to be answered is simple, Canada sits at a very important junction in its evolution; does it continue to push forward to become an energy superpower or does it let the environmental conversation win, pushing forward instead with a clean energy agenda? This essay will hopefully drive this conversation forward.

Stewart Elgie, a University of Ottawa law and economics professor and chair of the green economy think-tank Sustainable Prosperity suggests that British Columbia’s per-capita fuel usage had fallen more than 4 per cent compared with the rest of Canada and its economy (Ebner, McCarthy, 2011) Evidently it is reducing the amount of green house gasses emitted by fossil fuel use. However this is not the concern many had with the introduction of the tax, but the concerns were focused upon the externalities caused by this and the effects it would have on the economy. Three years since the carbon tax introduction and the Provincial level of GDP has remained approximately the same, (Greenery in Canada: We have a winner) With the provincial level of GDP remaining around the same, this suggests that at the very worst the carbon tax has had no negative effects to the provincial economy. Furthermore the tax also promised to remain carbon neutral and promised to cut corporate and private income tax. British Columbia has become the province with the lowest income tax regime and the lowest corporate tax regime (Greenery in Canada: We have a winner). Although the carbon tax is being praised by many, it still faces concerns as many still argue the ineffectiveness of the tax and what that means for the province.

First, the source that is being used (the coal) is one of the many resources that are non renewable. When you constantly replace your source of energy it can get expensive. Fortunately, Canada does not generate off of it which is much work and time saved for people. Second, the gasses that comes out of burning the coal has advantages and disadvantages. It lets out sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide. In other words, it is not the best fumes to be out in the air and without the generator the awful gases won't be let out into the atmosphere as much as it used too.

For the last two decades, the increased use of fossil energy caused the environmental problems. The evidence of global warming, like drying rivers, extinction of species, melting of glaciers, became more often around the planet. The climate change became a threat to healthy environment and prosperity of humanity and wildlife, and the world community started searching for solution to combat climate change. In 2008 British Columbia introduced carbon tax on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reduce global warming. Starting from $10 per tonne of CO2, the price was increasing annually till it reached $30 per tonne in 2012. During that period British Columbia was reducing harmful emissions and improving economy comparing to the rest of Canada. However, since the price rise on carbon stopped in 2012, no improving changes in cutting emissions, economy, and overall quality of life have been noticed. In this essay I will persuade that British Columbia should continue gradually increase price on carbon tax to the level where it will significantly cut the use of dirty energy, provide enough investments into the green projects, and support low-income families.

The Canadian Energy Strategy was posed in 2012 by the then current premier Alison Redford. The goal of the initiative was collaboration with the rest of the provinces to help increase transportation capacity of oil-sands bitumen and crude for exportation. There was much objection however from environmentalists and Frist Nations communities. This strategy was propagated as a fundamental phase of growth not only for Alberta, but all the

Canada has the potential to be a “sustainable energy superpower” due to the vast amount of resources it contains. It has a large landmass and diversified geography which can be used to produce renewable energy from such resources; watermill, wind, biomass, solar, geothermal, and ocean energy. Renewable energy is energy obtained from natural resources that are able to be naturally replenished within a human lifespan (Natural Resource Canada, 2014). Currently, fossil fuel burning is the major source of energy in Canada and although it can be re-used, the process is so long that it is considered to be non-renewable. Also, fossil fuel burning for coal, natural gas, and petroleum gas pollutes the environment with greenhouse gases on a large scale, causing global warming. Non-renewable energy is taken from sources that re available on Earth in limited quantity, likely vanishing within fifty to sixty years from today (Conserve Energy Future, 2014). Thus, it is important for Canada to invest their money on resorting to more environmentally friendly and renewable ways to make electricity. Being a developed country, Canada has the financial stability to purchase the technologies over time in order to produce renewable energy. In addition, many organizations and the government have taken a step to educate the society about issues regarding energy usage, and to create programs which conserve energy for the future. In the future generations, Canada will be able to generate sufficient

In recent news reports about LNG development in British Columbia, First Nation communities are only depicted in a position of power when associated with the proposed wealth of the project and this is used to sway an undecided public. Furthermore, British Columbia is currently in a moment of transition deciding where they lie on neoliberal development decisions. Neoliberalism is a form of governance distinguished in its conjunction of particular practices and knowledge production that emphasize the market and the responsibilities of enterprising subjects alongside the recognition of collective and socio-economic rights of disadvantaged groups. Through all this reason, we can argue that stories about First Nation issues and capitalism are particularly significant a site of knowledge where the public determines the news. I also related my argument to Peter Manus online reading and the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights to give us a relationship between the First Nations and the project.

Canada is one of the biggest energy producers in the world. Currently Canada is ranked fifth in regards to the production of energy. Canada 's energy policy should revolve around the natural resources and their optimum use to create cheap and clean energy, which should be environmentally friendly. Our policy should be beneficial for all the Canadians living in different parts of the country and that the policy should not discriminate among the provinces. Canada is also the biggest consumer of the energy in the world, as it consumes most of energy per capita because of the extreme weather conditions that it faces. We need to keep ourselves warm through the winter and have to transport goods and people from one place to another. Canada 's

Ontario has its own creative and effective strategies to combat climate change. One of Ontario’s goal is a low-carbon future. To accomplish this the province started making carbon reductions in 1990 and are on track to reduce carbon emissions by 15% in 2020, 37 per cent in 2030 and 80 per cent in 2050 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). Ontario’s target of reducing emissions by 6% was met on schedule in 2014 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). One of the reasons this has been made possible is because of Ontario’s investment in carbon reduction. For example, in 2015 Ontario committed $325-million payment to Ontario’s Green Investment Fund to support programs that help households and businesses implement

The continued need to support clean energy opportunities has been outlined by Provincial Ministers of the Crown:

Coal power is the cheapest fuel to power the ever growing population with Australian mining industry still putting in billions of dollars into a vast amount of coal projects never the less coal power is a fossil fuel, a fuel which takes hundreds of year to form so the future of coal is undetermined. Coal is a reliable power source but one of the many concern with coal is the mining process used to remove it from the ground. Ecological effects are developing worries for the industry, with the carbon emissions possibly contributing to global warming.

About education defines energy as “the ability to do work” (Helmenstine, A. 2016) which conveys that it can be used to produce electricity, cooling, heating and many more for our homes, office, and indeed for our environment. Although, it have undoubtedly became an important part of our life, making our task easier to achieve; it still has a lot of negative impacts whether it be on the environment, the health of humans, or the animals. The most common type of energy that is being used today is fossil fuels. “For many years, Aboriginal communities in Northern Canada have relied on technologies that use fossil fuels” (Issues Related to Energy Changes, 2016). Many of the negative impacts that fossil fuel has on the environment are global warming,