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Canada Plans To Phase Out Coal-Powered Electricity By 2030 (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the countdown-timer dept.

Last week, French president Francois Hollande announced that France will shut down all its coal-fired power plants by 2023. This week, Canada's environment minister, Kathleen McKenna, announced that Canada plans to phase out its use of coal-fired electricity by 2030. The Guardian reports: [McKenna] said the goal is to make sure 90% of Canada's electricity comes from sustainable sources by that time -- up from 80% today. The announcement is one of a series of measures Justin Trudeau's Liberal government is rolling out as part of a broader climate change plan. Trudeau also has plans to implement a carbon tax. "Taking traditional coal power out of our energy mix and replacing it with cleaner technologies will significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, improve the health of Canadians, and benefit generations for years to come," McKenna said. Four of Canada's 10 provinces still use coal-based electricity. Alberta had been working toward phasing out coal-fired electricity by 2030.

5 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Coal in Canada? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They don't even use the word "electricity" up there. They call it "hydro".

  2. 2030 will be 3 elections away ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes ... let's keep kicking those environmental issues down the road. Fourteen years should give plenty of opportunity to blame some other government when this (and many other distant promises) don't actually happen ...

    1. Re:2030 will be 3 elections away ... by hawguy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes ... let's keep kicking those environmental issues down the road. Fourteen years should give plenty of opportunity to blame some other government when this (and many other distant promises) don't actually happen ...

      If the the new Administration does ignore Global Warming (and indeed, rolls back the paltry reductions that have already been put into place), I wonder if that opens up the USA to huge reparation payments down the road when other countries are forced to make huge expenditures due to the climate change?

  3. Re: Great, just what we need... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't live there, but it sounds like a good thing.

    By many measures, Canada and Russia are the biggest "winners" from global warming. They benefit from warmer temps, longer growing seasons, more land in the cultivation zone, etc. So it is a bit ironic that Canada is making commitments to reduce CO2, while America (a big net loser) is backsliding.

  4. Re:Just switch to Natural Gas by sydbarrett74 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    but not because it has anything to do with actual conservative ideology.

    Actually, there are those in the Republican party who view environmentalism as a New Age, satanic cult. They equate it to a worship of Mother Earth, and therefore view it as inherently evil and unGodly.

    --
    'He who has to break a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.' -- Gandalf to Saruman