FAST-TRACK EV SWITCH

The Alberta Court of Appeal recently overturned the federal Bill C-69, which is basically a pipeline killer. Immediately, Ottawa announced it would appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. How divisive is that? You’d think the feds would want to sit down with oil-producing provinces to work out a solution, rather than working against them.

Meanwhile, the oil companies once again are being criticized for making huge profits on the backs of consumers. With little or no new investment, oil companies have decided to return these profits through shareholders by massive share buybacks and increasing dividends. This is coming under fire as well, as it is felt they should be investing in new production so prices can come down. They really can’t seem to win. Isn’t less production better for the environment? So all this complaining is nonsensical.

This is very confusing, as the world is facing a huge climate crisis. Canadian oil companies are trying to comply with what governments and environmentalists want. Many will ironically be net-zero before the rest of us are. An unintended consequence of high oil and gas prices is to discourage consumers from using fossil fuels, thereby encouraging conservation by driving less. The real bottom line in all this is that oil and gas prices are likely going even higher because of a lack of proper distribution networks and regimes whose oil and gas is not wanted anymore.

This means governments and consumers need to get off their high horses, swallow their pride and really transition to electric vehicles like never before. That’s great news for our planet. Industry needs to step up and fast-track this by building a proper infrastructure to allow millions of EVS to function properly. No effort should be spared to make this happen.

In the meantime, let’s get over high oil and gas prices and be thankful we live in Canada. John Moore, Halifax