COVID-19 crisis offers hope for a clean energy transition

There will likely not be another chance in the near term to deploy billions of taxpayer dollars to the energy industry without considerable political backlash; it is incumbent on the Government of Canada to make the most of this opportunity to launch us forward toward a sustainable energy future.

In the tragedy of COVID-19, there is a sliver of hope that we could effect a clean energy transition for the long term. Possibility exists now to turn this hiatus of trust and co-operation into a unique opportunity to redefine the role of fossil fuels and its contributions to our national economic output. The time has come for Canadians to demand that our leaders take the climate threat as seriously as the virus and use the existing fiscal capacity to engage public and private capital to finance a low carbon energy economy. This requires fresh thinking and bold actions.The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

Opinion

BY JATIN NATHWANI

April 20, 2020

WATERLOO, ONT.—Although the final pages on the unfolding human tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic have yet to be written, the ‘tsunami-scale’ of economic disruption has led to responses by the federal and provincial governments that the most acclaimed of futurists could not have predicted even s...

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