Renewables are a Solution for Canadian Independence, NOT Costly & Divisive Oil Pipelines nor LNG - Sierra Club Canada

Energy workers deserve real solutions. Canada is making renewable progress – progress we can not afford to lose. Renewables can bring real power to communities and energy workers, and corporate pollution regulations actually help our industries stay competitive in the face of tariffs.

We would only create more division by building more oil pipelines and LNG and oil pipelines and LNG would cost Canadian taxpayers.

Oil and gas corporations’ proposed projects are ‘backed by billionaires and Wall Street investment firms who are close allies of Trump, eager to embrace Canada as the 51st state and prioritize the interests of their majority-US financiers and shareholders.’

As of March 10th, 2025 according to polling by Leger:

Most Canadians (65 per cent) agree that Canada should invest in renewable energy instead of fossil fuel developments.
A majority of Canadians (62 per cent) agree that Canada should maintain its climate commitments independent of the United States administration’s decisions, including its withdrawal from the UN Paris Agreement on climate. More than two-thirds of Canadians (67 per cent) agree that the next Canadian government should make climate action and protecting nature a high priority.

As of February 3rd, 2025, 80% of Canadians oppose having American companies taking greater ownership of natural resource projects in Canada.

Canada is spending three times more backing oil and gas than renewables, even though renewables are a better investment. The federal government also authorized an additional $20-billion loan to the Trans Mountain pipeline project this past December, which brings the total disclosed federal commitment up to almost $50 billion.

Four podcasts below with experts on the benefits of a renewable energy shift for Canada including how that renewable energy shift has a crucial role to play in helping Canada maintain its independence from foreign powers including the U.S. and China (find two other podcasts specifically on that aspect here). We also discuss why some provincial policies – policies hostile to renewables – are holding us back and why we need strong climate policies to move our energy system forward.

We already have solutions for when the sun does not shine or the wind doesn’t blow as discussed below, such as interconnecting grids, diversified renewables, energy storage, and energy efficiency. But we cannot control global oil and gas prices and markets. This leaves us vulnerable to wild fluctuations in the price of oil and gas, to international crises, to corporate profiteering, and to the whims of hostile leaders who can use our dependency on oil and gas against us through measures like tariffs.

For every additional $1 of inflation YOU pay, 25 cents of that goes to oil and gas and mining extraction profits. New LNG facilities also increase costs for Canadian consumers. Meanwhile pipeline and LNG projects have failed because they were economically infeasible – would take years to build – and global demand for oil & gas elsewhere is set to decline within this decade. Singular pipelines also have to cross many jurisdictions and often violate the rights of communities and Indigenous peoples causing backlash. The current federal government poured billions of taxpayer dollars into building a pipeline and it’s still considered a dubious investment.

We discuss the numerous benefits of a shift away from oil and gas and to renewables, like giving communities more power over their energy systems and localizing employment so energy workers don’t need to leave their families for weeks at a time. Renewables create far more jobs than oil and gas projects can while also bringing down energy costs for consumers. And we can build a renewable supply chain right here in Canada. Low-carbon steel is also expected to see rising demand compared to its more carbon-intensive equivalents.

We chat about why data centres which could drive huge domestic energy demands and opportunities must be powered by renewables – not just for the sake of our climate but for the sake of localizing the benefits.

Related: Read about Ten Trump-proof nation-building projects for a strong, independent Canada from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

There are legal risks to relying on U.S.-backed oil and gas projects for employment and energy too: When Canadians said no to American oil and gas interests Ruby River Capital, an American company, sued to grab up to $20 Billion from Canadian taxpayers. All because local people successfully protected local rivers in Quebec and said NO to a proposed LNG project.

Corporate pollution reduction measures by contrast not only help our industries stay competitive and profitable, but do so at a minimal cost, while helping build renewable alternatives.

Podcast 1: Why Renewable Energy IS Reliable and Something We Can Deploy Now

You can also find this episode on the Harbinger Media Network, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and on our Youtube Channel.

Podcast 2: How Renewables Can Create Jobs and Localize Benefits in Communities

You can also find this episode on the Harbinger Media Network, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, our Youtube Channel, and on our website.

Podcast 3: On the Need for Strong Climate Policies and Why Oil & Gas Development and Dependency only Hold us Back

You can also find this episode on the Harbinger Media Network, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, our Youtube Channel, and on our website.

Podcast 4: On AI and Data Centres and Why These Must be Developed in a Renewable Way

You can also find this episode on the Harbinger Media Network, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, our Youtube Channel, and on our website,

Listen to two additional episodes with more on how a shift to renewable energy, and away from oil & gas, is a vital part of strengthening Canadian independence and sovereignty here.