Juno News - December 10, 2020Ep. 4 ｜ “Clean Energy” Schemes
Episode Stats
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152.9848
Summary
In the wake of the Coronavirus, the Trudeau government is doubling down on its green agenda. Despite the devastating impacts of the coronavirus and the ensuing lockdowns, the government is set on implementing more green energy schemes.
Transcript
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Despite the devastating impacts of the coronavirus and the ensuing lockdowns, the government is set
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on implementing more green energy schemes. At a time when unemployment numbers have reached
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historical highs, you would think the government would be prioritizing the economy and job creation.
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Unfortunately, instead, the Trudeau government is doubling down on its green agenda.
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Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said any plan to restart the economy following COVID-19
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must be green, equitable, and based on decarbonization.
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Talena's question about decarbonization as part of our economic plan going forward, of course,
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it has to be part of it. I think all Canadians understand that the restart of our economy
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needs to be green. It also needs to be equitable. It needs to be inclusive.
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Well, before Canadians give these politicians a blank check to re-engineer our entire society
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based on wild green fantasies about a new economy, we should remember our own experiences
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with failed projects and green energy schemes. Even Canadians who worry about climate change
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and want to prioritize a clean natural environment should be weary of falling for these empty promises
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from politicians. On today's episode, we take a look at the various failed green energy schemes
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created by the government. In 2009, the Ontario Liberal government introduced the Ontario Green Energy
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Act, a utopian strategy that was supposed to make Ontario a green pioneer and a world leader in
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sustainable development. Many of the high-ranking staffers who worked with the Liberals at the time
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and were key architects of this legislation, including prominent advisor to Justin Trudeau,
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Gerald Butts, now later moved on to senior roles in the federal Liberal government.
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The Green Energy Act was passed by the former Liberal government of Ontario in 2009,
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and it was supposed to pave the way into Ontario's use of immemorable energy sources, mainly wind and solar power.
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And what they linked it to was they were going to eliminate the use of coal-fired electricity,
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The Ontario Green Energy Act drove countless Ontario households into bankruptcy,
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forced businesses and manufacturers to shut their doors or flee the province,
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landed one unlucky Liberal staffer in jail. And meanwhile, well-connected insiders built
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personal fortunes through green corporate handouts and special backroom deals.
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Under this scheme, the Ontario government shut down the province's coal energy plants
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and attempted to replace them with highly subsidized wind and solar energy sources.
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These sources, however, turned out to be highly unreliable and failed to meet the energy needs of the
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province. Ontario found itself in the precarious position where it was importing expensive energy
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during peak hours and then forced to sell excess energy produced at night at a substantial loss.
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Energy prices in the province spiked by 110%, and the government was left scrambling.
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Ultimately, they decided to build gas-powered electricity plants to make up the difference.
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But this presented a whole new problem for the Ontario Liberal government.
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You see, environmentalists and Liberal allies had spent years demonizing fossil fuel as a source of
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electricity, and therefore these gas plants became increasingly unpopular.
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During the 2012 Ontario provincial election, then Liberal Premier Dalton McGinty reversed his decision
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and announced that he would cancel the gas-powered plants being built in two strategic Liberal
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ridings in suburban Toronto. That's right, he did this right in the middle of an election campaign.
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The government intervened and cancelled two gas plants that were, for political reasons,
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because the local Liberal ridings weren't happy about having gas plants, and so they cancelled them.
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And the Auditor General said, well, that cost us a billion dollars over 20 years.
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We basically paid for the four gas plants and we only got two. So it has been an economic disaster for
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the people of Ontario because it's contributed to about a 100% rise in electricity prices in a decade.
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It was a political disaster to the McGinty and Wynn governments because it was just one more mess
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This partisan decision, which helped the Liberals win that election, left taxpayers with a $2 billion tab.
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That's not $2 billion to build the new gas plants. That's $2 billion not to build them. That is,
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in sunk costs, cancelled contracts and other liabilities. Billions more were eventually spent
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in building other gas plants in other parts of the province that weren't as important to the Liberals
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electorally in order to make up for Ontario's self-imposed energy deficits. And that's not all.
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The Ontario Liberals tried to cover it all up by misleading the public and quietly destroying the
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evidence. McGinty's Chief of Staff David Livingston was ultimately found guilty of destroying public
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documents. He went to jail. McGinty's former Chief of Staff David Livingston was sentenced to four
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months in jail for his role in wiping government hard drives just before Kathleen Wynne took office.
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The judge presiding over the case said that the Liberal government's conduct
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was an affront to and attack on democratic institutions and values. For those of us who
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lived in Ontario during this scandal, we know firsthand just how disastrous these government-led
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green energy schemes can be. The government intervened and cancelled two gas plants that were
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for political reasons because the local Liberal ridings weren't happy about having gas plants and
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so they cancelled them. And the Auditor General said, well that cost us a billion dollars over
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20 years. We basically paid for the four gas plants and we only got two. And so what happened then, when
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the government finally was defeated, they killed a whole bunch of government documents that they weren't
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supposed to kill. And one of the former premier's most senior advisors went to jail over it. So it has been
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an economic disaster for the people of Ontario because it's contributed to about a 100% rise in
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electricity prices in a decade. It was a political disaster to the McGuinty and Wynne governments
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because it was just one more mess they'd made of green energy. And we're going to be paying for it for
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the next, what is it now? It's 2020. We're going to be paying for it for the next decade before we can
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even get out of most of these contracts. We've heard all politicians say this before. They're getting
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tough on climate change or they're taking climate action. But what exactly does this mean? The failure of
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the Green Energy Act in Ontario is not an isolated incident. While the elusive idea of renewable energy
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sounds appealing, in practice, the fact is that technology is just not there yet. Wind and solar
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will become viable when we develop batteries that can store electricity at the levels needed to power
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a modern economy. Because the electricity is intermittent, you can't use it in an efficient way.
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So what a lot of people, including myself, think we should do is we should use the best conventional
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fuels we have right now, the lowest emitting as the bridge to a decade or two from now when wind and
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solar and biomass and a lot of these other things will become viable. But that doesn't stop activists
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in government from pushing these projects and wasting countless dollars in the process. Oftentimes the
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federal government is just spending money for the sake of spending money on climate change. For example,
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in 2017 and 2018 there were seven climate change research projects set up by the Trudeau government
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and funded by you, the taxpayer, to the tune of 10.5 million dollars that were never deployed or
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conducted. Under the current climate change funding requirements, there are no consequences if funded
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researchers do not actually submit their climate reports. That's right, climate change researchers are being
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paid by the taxpayer to do nothing. The evaluation of the Aquatic Climate Change Adaption Services
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program reads, in 2017 and 18, seven projects were funded for which researchers did not provide reports,
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hence their status is unknown. This taxpayer-funded government program is costing Canadians 3.5 million
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dollars annually and this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the money spent on climate
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ideology without any regard for the outcome or any measurable improvement to the natural environment.
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Speaking of useless and counterproductive government climate initiatives, let's talk for a minute about
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electric cars. Electric car subsidies, one of the most inefficient ways to lower emissions on earth.
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Electric cars are great until you've got a lot of them. Then you've got to look at the power source. If
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their power source is coal-fired electricity, then you may as well get a fuel-efficient conventional
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vehicle. Also, electric car batteries, you need to make those, and to make solar panels, you need
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rare earth metals. Rare earth metals are mined in countries like China with some of the worst
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environmental conditions in the world. And when you get rid of those batteries, it's a nightmare.
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We all know that one guy. The guy who drives a Tesla and thinks he's saving the world one kilometer at a
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time. While Elon Musk has done a tremendous job marketing his cars as a green alternative to gas
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guzzling SUVs, the verdict is still out over whether or not electric vehicles are actually better for the
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planet. I don't usually agree with socialist documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, but in his
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recent documentary Planet of the Humans, he did an excellent job explaining how the production of these
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electric vehicles is more harmful to the environment than driving a gas-fueled vehicle. Tesla's electric
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cars are built with aluminum, which uses eight times more energy to manufacture than steel. They use
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lithium, which also rely on toxic mining, and even more graphite, which is one of the rarest forms of
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carbon. In fact, the investors wanted to open several new graphite mines after Tesla announced the
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gigafactory. But never mind these pesky facts. Governments across Canada have jumped on the electric vehicle
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bandwagon and are now offering taxpayer-funded rebates to those wealthy enough to purchase an electric
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vehicle. Currently, Transport Canada offers rebates of up to $5,000 for electric vehicles sold for $45,000
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or less. The logic is by paying Canadians to switch to electric vehicles, carbon emissions in Canada will
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go down. But similar rebates in California and other liberal jurisdictions simply helped rich people
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buying their favorite status symbol. Just look at this report from Los Angeles-based YouTuber Graham
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Steffen, explaining how he took advantage of various government subsidies, grants, and handouts to buy
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a brand new luxury vehicle for just $78 per month. So you might be wondering now, how did I get this car for
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$78.39 per month? I will get back $2,500 from California's EV rebate program. I'll get back
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another $3,780 from the federal tax credit. I bought this car specifically for business use, which means
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the $1,438 in interest that I pay financing the car is a tax write-off. I also get to write off the $4,437
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in taxes, licensing, and registration as a tax write-off. I can also depreciate the value of the
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car about $8,200 in the first year. All of that combined works out to be about a $14,000 tax write-off.
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It's effectively like I'm buying a brand new Tesla Model 3 for the out-of-pocket cost of $78.39 per month.
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Look, Graham is a smart guy and I don't begrudge him for taking advantage of government stupidity.
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But this is a guy who became a millionaire at age 26. He built a $10 million real estate portfolio
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and he makes millions of dollars per year on YouTube. He doesn't need government handouts,
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but this is exactly the type of person who benefits from these green government schemes.
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And in Canada, when it comes to subsidizing rich people driving luxury Teslas,
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the government isn't even sure the program helps the environment. In fact,
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they have no idea if this is the case. Officials from Transport Canada have been unable to determine
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whether this $300 million program has had any impact on carbon emissions whatsoever.
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In December 2019, Transport Canada's Chief Financial Officer Ryan Pilgrim was unable to answer
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basic questions from the Senate National Finance Committee on the cost per ton of carbon emissions
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reduced. He could only point to a single percentage increase in the number of Canadians who use
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electric cars from 2% up to 3% since this program was implemented. But that doesn't tell us anything
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about the usefulness of the program or whether or not it reduced emissions. Several provinces have
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engaged in similar rebate programs at the taxpayer's expense while producing little or no real results.
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Up until 2018, the Government of Ontario was offering one of Canada's most generous rebate programs for
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electric cars, up to $14,000 per car. Again, the province had no idea if this was lowering emissions,
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and only a select few, those who could afford an electric car, took advantage of the program.
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In 2017, there were only 7,477 electric vehicles in Ontario, a province of over 13.5 million people.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford finally scrapped the rebate program in 2018. Ford predicted that by
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ending the rebates and ending the cap-and-trade program used to fund them, $1 billion of taxpayer
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money would be saved over four years. Unfortunately, despite overwhelming evidence that suggests that
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government rebates on electric vehicles have little to no impact on carbon emissions, both the Ontario and
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federal government announced in the fall of 2020 that they would be giving millions of taxpayer dollars
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in corporate welfare to Ford to mass-produce electric vehicles in Oakville, Ontario. The Ontario
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government plans to give Ford $295 million in funding to be matched by an additional $295 million from
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the federal government. That's nearly $600 million going from your pockets into the coffers of a
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multi-billion dollar transnational corporation. This is part of a long trend in Canada, unfortunately,
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of governments funding multinational corporations to prop up the domestic car manufacturing industry.
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It's interesting how these politicians talk out of both sides of their mouth. They virtue signal and
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pretend to champion the environment. All the while, they also subsidize gas-guzzling vehicles and prop up the
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auto industry. It's almost like they don't care about the environment at all.
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Whether or not the Earth faces catastrophic climate change, and if this is the case, what can we actually
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do about it? These are conversations that should be taking place in the scientific realm. These debates
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should be dispassionate, evidence-based, rooted in the scientific method, and conducted without political
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rhetoric or name-calling. But instead, the dominant voices in the conversations about the environment
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and climate change have been the political ones. Just look at the most influential figures in
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environmental advocacy over the past two decades. We have David Suzuki, a biologist and a celebrity
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activist. Al Gore, a politician and filmmaker. Greta Thunberg, a teenage protester. And of course,
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the scores of Hollywood celebrities who get off their private jets to tell us to ditch our cars,
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stop having big families, and to stop eating meat. It's easy to roll your eyes at these activists,
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and frankly, their silliness. But we need to understand the power they wield over the politicians
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whose actions and policies impact our lives. This is why Canada has a carbon tax. Remember, Justin Trudeau's
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Liberals ran on a campaign pledge to impose this tax during the 2015 election. Could you ever have
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imagined a political party so brazen about their desire to tax voters and still win the election?
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Even a lot of Conservatives got sucked into thinking that a carbon tax isn't that bad,
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or perhaps it's inevitable, without challenging the underlying assumptions.
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As we heard from everyday Canadians, people aren't even clear what this carbon tax is all about.
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And yet, the government insists that it has a sweeping mandate for it.
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Not just a mandate to impose its environmental agenda on Canadians, but also globally. Remember
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that the Canadian government has spent $2.65 billion given to a United Nations fund for global climate
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change relief. While foreign actors have spent unknown sums of cash campaigning in Canada against
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our own industries. COVID-19 brought Canada's economy, and indeed the entire global economy,
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to a halt. But it's provided opportunistic activists the opportunity to try to rebuild the world in
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their image. Whether it's the World Economic Forum, you know, the Davos elite calling for a great reset,
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or Canada's own Deputy Prime Minister suggesting a green restart to our economy based on decarbonization,
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whatever that means. It's not just this tax credit, or that retrofitting program, or some plan to install
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electric vehicle charging stations. Sure, these things often come with a steep price tag, but there's
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something else going on here, something much more fundamental. Governments and activists have teamed up
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to impose an agenda that threatens Canada's sovereignty, purposefully destroys good-paying middle-class jobs,
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costs billions of dollars, and often flies in the face of the very science it claims is backing it all up.
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And that leaves us with one simple question. How dare you?