Letters: Sask. wastes money to fight climate action in court

To stop global heating, we must replace fossil fuels with clean energy. The federal Clean Electricity Regulations’ revised goal for a net-zero electricity grid by 2050 aligns with the Saskatchewan government’s goal for SaskPower.

Still, Saskatchewan has not embraced the revised regulations despite compromises made at Saskatchewan’s requests. The regulations are now more flexible to ensure affordable, reliable electricity.

The federal government is also offering billions in financial support to build electricity infrastructure, which Saskatchewan needs with the regulations or not.

Even after getting what it demanded, Saskatchewan continues to fight the regulations. For example, the current Saskatchewan government is considering a court challenge of the regulations, and Saskatchewan Minister Jeremy Harrison has called the regulations “unconstitutional.”

Saskatchewan already lost a prior court challenge over the federal carbon pricing policy. This challenge took years through three provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. The legal cost is borne by Saskatchewan’s taxpayers.

Despite losing in court, Saskatchewan continues to vilify the pollution pricing policy with disinformation and unlawfulness. Instead of playing fair, Saskatchewan defies federal laws and refuses to collect the carbon charge on natural gas.

Saskatchewan is sending a signal that the law doesn’t matter, or that it will only listen to a court decision that it agrees with. This situation is dangerous to Saskatchewan’s people.

The climate crisis grows, while we fail to replace fossil fuel energy with clean alternatives. Saskatchewan must reconcile with the federal government and build clean energy now.

Julia Boughner, Saskatoon

Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy essential

Saskatchewan is considering a court challenge of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations released last month. One wonders why Saskatchewan would waste our time and money on court challenges if it won’t abide by the results anyway.

Saskatchewan ignores federal laws on pollution pricing for natural gas despite the court ruling that the federal pollution pricing was lawful.

Last month, a court in Montana decided that its citizens’ constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment includes a stable climate system. The state argued that its emissions were such a small proportion of global emissions that it had a negligible effect on climate change.

The Montana court quipped: “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” The Montana court rejected the “small contribution” to greenhouse gas emissions from the state and said it was irrelevant that Montana only makes a relatively small contribution to global emissions.

Montana has state GHG emissions that are about half that of Saskatchewan with a similar size of population (each slightly over one million residents).

The trending increase in climate court actions is clear. Saskatchewan is not too small to be held accountable for its high per capita GHG emissions. Saskatchewan is facing a climate court challenge from Saskatchewan citizens and Climate Justice Saskatoon.

Instead of wasting time and money in court, Saskatchewan should build wind and solar energy now. To tackle the climate crisis, urgently replacing fossil fuels with clean energy is not optional — it’s essential.

Roxanne Buller, Saskatoon

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