THIS WEEK

A climate map for Canada, Shell imagines a world without emissions, and why climate change is personal for the whippersnappers.

FUEL EFFICIENCY

Let's not compromise our standards

You may have heard that the Trump administration is rolling back Obama Era fuel efficiency standards. Canada had jointly adopted those regulations, which require automakers to produce more efficient vehicles. In short, it has implications for not only our national carbon pollution targets but also how much we're paying at the pump.

California, which has the legal right to set its own air pollution rules, is said to be in talks with the Trump administration. The state has stated it plans to keep its stricter standards in place.

As I told the Globe and Mail last week, it’s in Canadians’ best interest that the federal government join California and the dozen other states that intend to keep the fuel efficiency standards as they are, as the auto sector had agreed to before Trump assumed office.

Failing to do so means that Canadian drivers won’t benefit from the estimated $900 per year in fuel cost savings, and carbon pollution will be significantly higher than it needs to be.

The year in clean energy investments

China invested a massive $86.5 billion in solar power last year, according to a new report from the UN Environment, the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Center, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the new research: poor countries are now investing more in clean energy than rich ones.


When it becomes personal

Alex Steffen says young people will transform climate politics. Here's why: "Young people have a massive self-interest in pushing that boom to happen as fast as possible — a self-interest every bit as strong (and far more ethical) as the self-interest that older people pursue through gradualism and delay. As young people become more and more powerful in the climate movement, fault lines are going to open. Those cracks are visible now. Older leaders are just in the habit of ignoring them."

Canada's future climate, mapped

If climate change continues on its current course, Toronto will face 100 searing-hot days a year in the decades ahead. This is one of many takeaways from a new interactive tool released by the University of Winnipeg’s Prairie Climate Centre (check it out here).

Shell imagines a zero-carbon world

Oil companies are increasingly grappling with climate change—most recently, Shell with its latest report, which models a non-emitting world by 2070. Sounds good? Well, some are skeptical of Shell's hypothetical scenario, but the truth is complicated. Vox's David Roberts breaks it down.

In defence of supply-side climate solutions

Today you're getting a double-dose of David Roberts, who says we should seriously consider cutting off fossil fuel supplies (for example, by cancelling the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in B.C.). A new paper makes the case—it's one that hasn't been popular with politicians.

Carbon pricing works, say Canadian economists

"Well-designed policies that put a price on carbon can reduce GHG emissions and can do so in a way that doesn’t undermine our economic prosperity," says a new report from the Ecofiscal Commission. “Carbon pricing works.” This video sums it up nicely:

Canada's natural gas dependency

Two-thirds of all energy Canadians use to heat their homes is supplied by natural gas and propane. Needless to say, that's big, and it's a reminder that Canada has much work to do around housing to lower emissions. It may not be easy.

The shipping news

The Paris Agreement had a gap: shipping. Now, 170 counties are releasing a plan to cut carbon pollution from the shipping industry, which is responsible for 2.3% of all emissions worldwide. If left unchecked, industry emissions could double by mid-century.

The hydrogen economy

As North American climate advocates look to electrify everything, why does Japan still pursue a hydrogen-powered future? To understand this, one must understand Japan's situation. Here's a good long read on the topic.
Clean Energy Review is sponsored in part by Genus Capital Management, a leading provider of fossil-fuel-free investments. 
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IMAGE & MEDIA CREDITS

Chart: Quartz
Clean Energy Review is a weekly digest of climate and clean energy news and insight from across Canada and around the world—plus a peek over the horizon. 

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