What’s At Stake For Each Party As Possible 2021 Election Looms: OTTAWA — For all the bluster among federal political leaders
about not wanting an election any time soon, the political truth is as
cold as a winter’s wind: the potential for one is a reality in 2021.

For now, political parties say getting through the long dark winter without the health-care system collapsing due to COVID-19 is a priority, as is ensuring vaccines quickly and effectively reach all parts of the country.

But running parallel to that is the ongoing debate over how to cushion the economic blow caused by the pandemic.

What’s At Stake For Each Party As Possible 2021 Election Looms: OTTAWA — For all the bluster among federal political leaders
about not wanting an election any time soon, the political truth is as
cold as a winter’s wind: the potential for one is a reality in 2021. For now, political parties say getting through the long dark winter without the health-care system collapsing due to COVID-19 is a priority, as is ensuring vaccines quickly and effectively reach all parts of the country. But running parallel to that is the ongoing debate over how to cushion the economic blow caused by the pandemic.Read More

The Rise of SWB: Seba Says Solar, Wind, Batteries Can Deliver 100% RE by 2030, Make New Fossil Investment Irrational – The Energy Mix: An all-renewable electricity system is “both physically possible and economically affordable by 2030,” according to a new report from the RethinkX think tank, write co-founder Tony Seba and research fellow Adam Dorr in an early November post for Utility Dive.

“We are on the cusp of the most profound disruption of the energy sector since the advent of electricity itself over a century ago,” Seba and Dorr state. “The costs of solar photovoltaic power, onshore wind, and lithium-ion battery energy storage (SWB) have plummeted over the last two decades, and they will fall another 70%, 40%, and 80% respectively during the 2020s as their adoption continues to grow exponentially worldwide. The convergence of SWB now offers an electricity solution that coal, gas, nuclear, and other conventional energy technologies can no longer compete with.”

The new report, using a tool RethinkX calls a “clean energy U-curve”, looks for the best cost trade-offs between solar and wind generation, on one hand, and storage batteries, on the other, across different U.S. regions. “When we optimize the balance between the two, we find that the least expensive 100% SWB system will have three to five times more total generating capacity than today’s grid but require only 35 to 90 hours’ worth of batteries, depending on geography,” the two authors state.

The Rise of SWB: Seba Says Solar, Wind, Batteries Can Deliver 100% RE by 2030, Make New Fossil Investment Irrational – The Energy Mix: An all-renewable electricity system is “both physically possible and economically affordable by 2030,” according to a new report from the RethinkX think tank, write co-founder Tony Seba and research fellow Adam Dorr in an early November post for Utility Dive.“We are on the cusp of the most profound disruption of the energy sector since the advent of electricity itself over a century ago,” Seba and Dorr state. “The costs of solar photovoltaic power, onshore wind, and lithium-ion battery energy storage (SWB) have plummeted over the last two decades, and they will fall another 70%, 40%, and 80% respectively during the 2020s as their adoption continues to grow exponentially worldwide. The convergence of SWB now offers an electricity solution that coal, gas, nuclear, and other conventional energy technologies can no longer compete with.”The new report, using a tool RethinkX calls a “clean energy U-curve”, looks for the best cost trade-offs between solar and wind generation, on one hand, and storage batteries, on the other, across different U.S. regions. “When we optimize the balance between the two, we find that the least expensive 100% SWB system will have three to five times more total generating capacity than today’s grid but require only 35 to 90 hours’ worth of batteries, depending on geography,” the two authors state.Read More

Canada Boosts Fossil Subsidies to $14.3B Per Year, Joins Saudi Arabia as G20’s Top Two Oil and Gas Funders – The Energy Mix: Canada averaged US$14.3 billion per year in fossil fuel
subsidies between 2017 and 2019, earning it top ranking alongside Saudi
Arabia as the two G20 countries with the most generous subsidies for oil
and gas production, according a scorecard issued last week by three
international think tanks.

A separate study found that Canada produces more
greenhouse gas emissions per capita than 27 of the 54 Commonwealth
countries combined.

Canada Boosts Fossil Subsidies to $14.3B Per Year, Joins Saudi Arabia as G20’s Top Two Oil and Gas Funders – The Energy Mix: Canada averaged US$14.3 billion per year in fossil fuel
subsidies between 2017 and 2019, earning it top ranking alongside Saudi
Arabia as the two G20 countries with the most generous subsidies for oil
and gas production, according a scorecard issued last week by three
international think tanks.A separate study found that Canada produces more
greenhouse gas emissions per capita than 27 of the 54 Commonwealth
countries combined.Read More

UNDRIP Bill C-15 is an attack on Indigenous sovereignty: Diabo: If passed, Bill C-15 will be used by the government of Canada to
reinforce the status quo because the Bill makes it clear that existing
national laws—many of which violate Indigenous rights—will prevail over
UNDRIP;

The main sections of Bill C-15, particularly section 2, maintain the
common law interpretation of section 35(1) and section 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, which is heavily based on the colonial Doctrine of Discovery, which strips Indigenous people of their land ownership and land rights;

The primacy of the Doctrine of Discovery means Canadian courts will
continue to adjudicate using existing case law based on section 35 of
the Constitution Act, 1982, and these rulings have caused major harm to the daily life for Indigenous Peoples and Nations including:

The imposition of Crown sovereignty over Indigenous peoples, including self-government rights;

Disregarding Indigenous laws and legal traditions;

Establishing that the Crown has “ultimate title” to land;

The burden of proof imposed on Indigenous Peoples and Nations to establish their rights in Canadian courts;

The ability for the Crown to infringe Aboriginal rights based on the
“Sparrow test” that allows infringement of Aboriginal rights under all
sorts of circumstances;

The erosion of the duty to consult and accommodate to nothing more
than a procedural right that is reviewable based on administrative law
principles.

UNDRIP Bill C-15 is an attack on Indigenous sovereignty: Diabo: If passed, Bill C-15 will be used by the government of Canada to
reinforce the status quo because the Bill makes it clear that existing
national laws—many of which violate Indigenous rights—will prevail over
UNDRIP;The main sections of Bill C-15, particularly section 2, maintain the
common law interpretation of section 35(1) and section 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, which is heavily based on the colonial Doctrine of Discovery, which strips Indigenous people of their land ownership and land rights;The primacy of the Doctrine of Discovery means Canadian courts will
continue to adjudicate using existing case law based on section 35 of
the Constitution Act, 1982, and these rulings have caused major harm to the daily life for Indigenous Peoples and Nations including:The imposition of Crown sovereignty over Indigenous peoples, including self-government rights;Disregarding Indigenous laws and legal traditions;Establishing that the Crown has “ultimate title” to land;The burden of proof imposed on Indigenous Peoples and Nations to establish their rights in Canadian courts;The ability for the Crown to infringe Aboriginal rights based on the
“Sparrow test” that allows infringement of Aboriginal rights under all
sorts of circumstances;The erosion of the duty to consult and accommodate to nothing more
than a procedural right that is reviewable based on administrative law
principles.Read More