Renewable energy is rising globally, but Saskatchewan political parties avoid the topic of climate and the province’s abysmal record on emissions.
What we won’t talk about can be more revealing than what we will, such as at a dinner during a family crisis.
If you consistently ignore a serious problem, you have to invent a distraction strategy. But facts will leak through the disinformation.
Saskatchewan is the most derelict province regarding climate. Our per capita emissions were 56 tonnes last year; compared to Canada’s average, 18. The highest country, Qatar, emits less than us (35 tonnes). Saskatchewan is amongst the worst climate polluters anywhere.
This is because we remain dependent on fossil fuels for electricity (coal 25 per cent, natural gas 40 per cent). Last year, with three per cent of Canada’s population, we produced 22 per cent of all Canadian emissions from electrical generation.
With blackouts increasing with climate change, we clearly need a smarter grid. Yet, clinging to an outdated notion of “baseload” power, the Saskatchewan Party even ignores the potential of interprovincial tie-ins. In government 17 years, it stubbornly refuses to embrace renewable technology.
In 2023, Saskatchewan had only 630 megawatts (MW) wind capacity. Alberta had 4,500 MW, nearly equal to Saskatchewan’s entire grid. Solar Power SK ranks Saskatchewan as No. 1 in sunlight, but ninth in installing solar.
This is no accident. In 2019, the Saskatchewan Party cancelled the solar rebate program, killing emerging small businesses strengthening local economies. Jurisdictions elsewhere use effective programs to expand renewable energy. Not here!
The world is changing around Saskatchewan. Solar electricity has doubled every two years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects it will produce 30 per cent of global electricity by 2030. Renewables, overall, will be nearing 50 per cent. Not in Saskatchewan.
In launching Sustainable Saskatchewan last November, he claimed “Saskatchewan has become a world leader in sustainable economic development and environmental stewardship.” The words have lost all meaning; sustainability is not about having the highest carbon emissions anywhere.
Fear mongering is never far behind. When the federal government urged us to upgrade our dirty, antiquated grid, and catch up to the rest of the country, Moe said “We will not risk plunging our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our special care homes, our businesses into the cold and darkness because of the ideological whims of others.”
This off-the-wall rhetoric foreshadowed Poilievre’s dystopian “carbon tax nuclear winter.”
Such nonsense wouldn’t work as well if the NDP fulfilled the public trust that the opposition work relentlessly to get reliable, science-based information about climate into public discourse.
Past NDP MLAs and candidates have told me they were instructed not to discuss “climate” or “carbon.” We can’t solve collective problems without free inquiry and free speech. We need well-informed citizens of conscience representing us in the legislature.
The climate crisis is advancing quickly. We have passed the 1.5 C threshold required to avert irrevocable climate change. Ignoring the climate crisis, none of us will escape the gathering storms. Canada’s 2023 wildfires produced one-quarter of all wildfire emissions globally.
The escalating costs of rebuilding infrastructures and communities, and for insurance after catastrophic weather, will make the price on carbon invisible.
A majority of Saskatchewan voters believe it’s time for change. Our health care, housing, mental health and educational crises must be addressed. But the climate crisis should be front and centre as we go to the polls.
Jim Harding is a retired professor of environmental and justice studies and a director of the Qu’Appelle Valley Environmental Association. His forthcoming book The Long Sixties will be published in spring 2025.
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