It’s time Canada started pumping out green jobs
It’s time for the Keystone pipeline advocates to take a page from Ontario’s auto industry and move on. Just a few months ago, the two sectors were in a common position.
They both had a rough reputation for enabling the ratcheting up of emissions, taking Canada further away from its climate goals. They both had a problem raising investment, with their futures up in the air. This weekend was a dividing line.
With word on Sunday that U.S. Presidentelect Joe Biden would kill the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as one of his first moves in office, the prospects for changing his mind evaporated. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. He had telegraphed the decision during the election campaign, despite some early lobbying from the federal and Alberta governments to take a second look.
Meanwhile, in Ingersoll, Ont., autoworkers at the General Motors plant were voting to ratify a new agreement that would see GM invest $1 billion to turn their plant into a manufacturer of commercial electric vehicles.
It’s just the latest game-changing announcement from the automakers. Since October, the auto industry in Ontario has new production commitments worth about $5.8 billion, creating at least 3,700 direct jobs and, more importantly, cementing the sector as a mainstay in Ontario’s economy for years to come.
As the oil and gas industry was sulking over Keystone’s kibosh, the auto industry has picked itself up and dusted itself off, rebranding itself as a great place to invest in environment-friendly production.
Ford is putting almost $2 billion into battery electric vehicle production mainly in Oakville. Fiat Chrysler is investing $1.5 billion to build plug-in electric and battery electric vehicles in Ontario. And in addition to the Ingersoll commitment, GM is putting $1.3 billion into pickup manufacturing, reviving its operations in Oshawa and hoping to use the profits to pay for the transition to electric and autonomous vehicles.
In 2019, many autoworkers were already in mourning, anticipating a long, painful death for the industry. Instead, the companies, union leaders and government alike hatched a strategy of sorts and put their collective heft behind reorienting the industry toward a low-carbon economy.
Let’s not sugar-coat the evolution. Many workers have lost their livelihoods as the auto industry atrophied in the past few years, and many companies in the supply chain have seen more than their fair share of turmoil. Canada was late to the EV production game and will need to stay on its toes to be competitive. But the potential the nearly $6 billion in new investment brings to labour and suppliers alike is something to toast.
As for pipelines, it looks too late for that kind of emissions-friendly foray to pay off.
TC Energy announced on the weekend the pipeline would be carbon neutral, bolstering Canada’s case that allowing the Keystone extension would allow the United States to buy more oil from a country with a carbon price and solid climate policies in place.
But the Americans seem to be done listening, and — like many international investors deliberately pulling their money out of fossil fuels because they see better potential in green energy — they don’t want to be connected to the oilsands.
That doesn’t mean we should write off the oilsands as a dead industry though. Many energy companies are actively looking for and investing in ways to reduce emissions in their fossil fuel production, all while embracing clean energy and renewables.
At the same time, federal money that was there for the auto industry and has enticed the likes of Ford and GM is also there for good ideas from the oilpatch. In the climate plan laid out in December, Ottawa committed to putting $3 billion into the Strategic Innovation Fund specifically earmarked for ventures that reduce emissions.
The federal contribution to the Ford EV investment comes from that fund. Money for Ingersoll will likely be forthcoming. And the feds stress oil and gas can access it, too.
Add that to the growing appetite among investors for climate-compatible energy production, and many of the elements are there for the successful transition in Canada’s energy industry, just as they are in vehicles.
It’s time to let the dream of the Keystone pipeline die, and instead figure out — like the auto sector is doing — how to embrace clean energy and make a buck or two by doing so.