10 signatures reached
To: Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources and Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
The Canadian Clean Energy Corridor: Electric Federalism
The transition to Net-Zero carbon emissions depends on clean electricity to power Electrification of our economy. The constitution bestows authority to develop and provide electricity exclusively to provinces. Provincial borders and a lack of interprovincial transmission lines prevent renewable solar and wind from being developed to their potential. The Federal Government bought the Trans-Mountain pipeline citing national interests. Now the federal government needs to finance high-voltage transmission between BC/AB/SK/MB and beyond to ensure that world class SK solar and western Canadian Wind will power a decarbonized economy. The federal government must fund interprovincial transmission while the provinces can negotiate their own intertie agreements. This is the fastest way to accelerate electrification to Net-Zero: Electric Federalism!
Why is this important?
Over 80% of the GHGs driving dangerous climate change are caused by the burning of fossil fuels. We need to replace fossil fuels with clean energy. Electrification is the best option to replace fossil energy. We need to expand our grid capacity and remove barriers to clean renewable generation. Without expanded interprovincial electricity transmission, provinces like Saskatchewan will not develop its world class solar and wind resources. The federal government can remove the barriers to clean energy by strengthening interprovincial transmissions by building the Clean Energy Corridor from coast to coast. This is a national project akin to building the railroad: Electric Federalism provides the path to a Net-Zero future!