Wind Energy and Tariffs – Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club U.S. Meet in Montréal
Canadian wind turbines, made with Canadian steel and aluminium, should power Canadian data centres.
Media Release: For Immediate Release February 12, 2025.
Sierra Club Canada met this week with their sister organization, Sierra Club U.S., in Montréal to discuss collaboration on a number of projects including growing offshore wind in Canada and raising awareness of the destabilizing effects U.S. tariffs on Canadian products will have on manufacturing.
“Our friends at the Sierra Club U.S. have done a lot of work with communities to develop offshore wind which we are hoping we can apply to developing a Canadian offshore wind industry, creating jobs and economic diversification,” says Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director with Sierra Club Canada.
“We should be building Canadian wind turbines, made with Canadian steel and aluminium, to power Canadian data centres,” says Conor Curtis, Head of Communications with Sierra Club Canada. “If the U.S. ceases imports of primary Canadian steel and aluminum, the Canadian government and domestic buyers must make use of newfound capacity to build out wind and solar energy to power data centres.”
Data centres in Canada should be powered by renewable energy, Sierra Club Canada argues, as renewables provide more employment than oil and gas and as they help to localize the benefits in Canadian communities. The decision by the U.S. Administration to restrict renewable energy development also only hands more power over the future of energy to the Chinese Government which is working quickly to control global clean tech supply chains.
Other subjects at the meeting include wrestling with tariffs on Canadian aluminium and steel. The Canadian steel industry, it should be noted, is already comparatively green and is on track for making major emissions reductions, and the United States relies on Canada’s production of clean primary aluminum. Steel is also used extensively in renewable energy infrastructure, such as wind turbines, making it an important part of a green transition.
The U.S. Sierra Club is also continuing to coordinate with the United Steelworkers Union which represents workers on both sides of the border.
“Together we are sharing lessons that can help strengthen Canada’s future and sovereignty. Around this table we see what the U.S.-Canada relationship should be: two separate entities supporting each other in friendship,” says Fitzgerald.
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An important note on referencing the Sierra Club Canada Foundation that there are three distinct Sierra Clubs: Sierra Club (in the United States), Sierra Club BC (in British Columbia), and Sierra Club Canada Foundation (operating nationally in Canada).
While we often work together, these organizations are all separate legal entities with separate management, financial structures, and boards. To be accurate, you should refer to our organization in articles or other coverage using the title “Sierra Club Canada” or the “Sierra Club Canada Foundation.” Our organization, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, also contains five chapters: Sierra Club Ontario, Sierra Club Québec, Sierra Club Atlantic Canada, Sierra Club Prairie, and Sierra Youth (which is nationwide).