Sask. climate efforts lost amid the political noise

Since bureaucrats absolutely loathe being caught up in the day’s political discourse, it’s difficult for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment officials to fully express their views on how this province is perceived on this file.

They avoid using the word “frustration,” but do note that they are described (at best) as not offering much to environmental public policy to (at worst) outright climate change deniers.

To this, they asked people to take an objective read of Prairie Resilience: A Made-in- Saskatchewan Climate Change Strategy.

Not only is it a document of which they are proud, but also argue that it is well ahead of the current public debate centred on the federal government’s carbon pricing and the political resistance that was spawned in this province.

Admittedly, what we’ve heard from first Brad Wall and now Premier Scott Moe has never seemed much more than an all-out political assault on federal Liberal government carbon pricing that the Saskatchewan Party government never had any intention of supporting.

And with Moe repeatedly holding press conferences with Progressive Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford, it’s not exactly as if these political pronouncements are adding much intellectual rigour.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s carbon dioxide emissions are increasing, expected to hit a record-high 15 million tonnes plus. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to be 55 per cent higher than 1990 levels by 2030, according to the government’s own numbers.

And while much-vaunted initiatives like Saskpower’s Chinook Power Station project are a good gap measure from coal-fired electricity as the Crown corporation electrical utility marches towards its goal of reducing GHGS to levels 40 per cent below 2005 by 2030, more megawatts from natural gas do increase emissions. “(The) Prairie Resilience Plan will not impact Saskpower’s plans to grow its generation capacity,” Saskpower spokesman Jordan Jackle said in a statement last April.

But perhaps most disconcerting is the Sask. Party’s anti-carbon-tax rhetoric taps into sentiments of a political base that believes the province shouldn’t be paying Trudeau’s carbon tax ... or perhaps anything for our GHG emissions.

We repeatedly hear arguments that Canada only represents two per cent of the world’s GHG emissions, without mentioning that Canada only represents 1.5 per cent of the world’s population.

And within this crowd are those who border on or are outright climate-change deniers.

But while political noise eats away at the arguments of Saskatchewan environment ministry officials until they are left defending nothing but the crumbs, they do counter with what should be seen as rather pragmatic and principled arguments.

One such argument is a carbon tax doesn’t do much to change individual behaviour if it means lost jobs and income. In short, lost income makes it rather difficult to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle or retrofit your home.

Moe and Ford should be called out for their best buddies buffoonery that’s been pure politics at taxpayers’ expense, but that doesn’t mean this carbon tax works.

By the same token, Sask. Environment makes some interesting arguments why one-sizefits-all federal carbon pricing doesn’t work in Saskatchewan.

For example, while Prairie Resilience notes that 24 per cent of this province’s GHGS come from agriculture, reducing it by much more requires farming technologies that just haven’t been invented yet.

Nevertheless, they see the government goals in Prairie Resilience — many of them, defined in legislation — as a solid response. And they believe it is respected by their environmental ministry colleagues for its contribution to solutions.

Things like proclamation of the Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Act offer reporting, verification and compliance powers and will lead to the drafting of new regulations and standards.

Saskatchewan Environment argues not only is its climate change strategy well ahead of the curve but also demonstrates this province is already adapting to it.

The problem is, it’s hard to hear through all the political noise.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-post.