The Environment in Canada Podcast

Hosted by Sierra Club Canada

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112

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May 2026

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EN-CA

About the show

A podcast about the environment in Canada (and sometimes elsewhere) by Sierra Club Canada. Topics include climate change, biodiversity, pollution, renewable energy democracy, and the Rights of Nature. Tune in and take action!

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May 20, 2026Episode 11020 min

Federal Government Betrays Climate Impacted Communities & Green Jobs: NO Excuse for Gutting Industrial Carbon Pricing & Clean Electricity Regulations

The Federal Government just gutted climate policy cancelling vital green jobs in Canada and it was NOT 4D 'chess' and there is NO excuse. Also what does pesticide deregulation, so extreme even industry didn't want it, have to do with national unity? Nothing.We discuss this gutting of the Industrial Carbon Price and Clean Electricity Regulations - what it means about the 'de-regulation / pro-corporate-profit-at-your-expense-agenda' - and what you can do about it.Get sources for today's episode and read more in our recent newsletter here: https://secure.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/mailing/view?id=3949&reset=1Learn more about the stories of wildfire and flood survivors who called for an emission cap: https://www.hilltimes.com/2024/11/04/each-of-our-voices-matter-disaster-survivors-call-for-greater-climate-action-in-ottawa-advocacy-push/440002/Read the Centre for Future Work's recent report on how anti-regulatory policy choices could cost Canadians billions: https://centreforfuturework.ca/2026/05/17/a-sequel-we-dont-want-what-the-2026-oil-price-shock-will-cost-canadians/Listen to our previous Sovereignty Saturday's podcast sub-series for even more context and ways to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/sovereignty-saturdays-canada-podcast/And check out coverage of our response to these cuts in CBC News, VOCM, and Victoria News in the newsletter above.More resources: How batteries let renewables get around needing baseload power: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-intermittent-baseload-power-wind-solar-batteries-grids-reliable/Over 120 scientists and academics say ‘no’ to Tantramar shale gas plant, Open letter to the Premier Holt, February 2026: https://nbmediacoop.org/2026/02/08/over-120-scientists-and-academics-say-no-to-tantramar-shale-gas-plant/ “Battery storage can now meet peak demand at a much lower cost than thermal power plants. In addition, renewable energy projects come online much faster—between six and eighteen months for solar—and carry less risk of cost overruns.... PROENERGY the company promoting the project, is headquartered in Missouri, and the gas burned in the proposed plant will come from the Marcellus and Utica shales in the United States.”Renewable energy has strong support and a majority of Canadians want to transition off of oil and gas now more than ever - polling sources and information on even more polling: https://www.sierraclub.ca/lng-national-interest-canada/Canada Can Go 100% Renewable: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-can-go-100-renewable/Canada Wind Power Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-wind-power-facts/Canada Electric Vehicles Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-electric-vehicles-facts/A comprehensive list of climate denial myths and why they are myths: https://skepticalscience.com/argument.phpBe sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

May 12, 2026Episode 10932 min

New Brunswick U.S.-Controlled Gas Plant is the Wrong Way Forward & Ecofactors

A U.S. company's proposed Tantramar diesel / gas plant could increase energy bills, lock communities into fossil fuels for decades, and put important ecosystems in New Brunswick at risk - when cheaper renewable and battery solutions exist: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-does-not-need-baseload-power-more-facts-on-wind-solar-batteries-grids/We also hear about the EcoFactors podcast which you can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/@atlanticwildlifeFind out more about the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition: https://www.atlanticwildlife.ca/pcicOur recent Take Action item on the gas plant here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/action-item/toolkit-take-action-on-proposed-diesel-gas-plant-nb/ More resources: How batteries let renewables get around needing baseload power: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-intermittent-baseload-power-wind-solar-batteries-grids-reliable/Over 120 scientists and academics say ‘no’ to Tantramar shale gas plant, Open letter to the Premier Holt, February 2026: https://nbmediacoop.org/2026/02/08/over-120-scientists-and-academics-say-no-to-tantramar-shale-gas-plant/ “Battery storage can now meet peak demand at a much lower cost than thermal power plants. In addition, renewable energy projects come online much faster—between six and eighteen months for solar—and carry less risk of cost overruns.... PROENERGY the company promoting the project, is headquartered in Missouri, and the gas burned in the proposed plant will come from the Marcellus and Utica shales in the United States.”Renewable energy has strong support and a majority of Canadians want to transition off of oil and gas now more than ever - polling sources and information on even more polling: https://www.sierraclub.ca/lng-national-interest-canada/Canada Can Go 100% Renewable: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-can-go-100-renewable/Canada Wind Power Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-wind-power-facts/Canada Electric Vehicles Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-electric-vehicles-facts/A comprehensive list of climate denial myths and why they are myths: https://skepticalscience.com/argument.phpBe sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

April 30, 2026Episode 10812 min

Sovereign Wealth Fund or Canada Strong Fund, Spring Economic Update, & Asset Recycling

The Canada Strong "Sovereign Wealth Fund" is NOT a Norwegian-style wealth fund - and it might be a taxpayer money-funnel to risky oil and gas projects that puts public assets at risk. Climate action is the canary in the coal mine - not a secondary issue: if governments can't commit to climate action and take affordability measures that confront oil and gas corporate profits, we can't rely on them to do a lot of other things either.Find out more and find all the sources for today's episode in the most recent edition of our newsletter here: https://secure.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/mailing/view?id=3929&reset=1Read our related fact sheet on why wind and solar with batteries make much more expensive gas plants and nuclear (including SMRs) obsolete: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-does-not-need-baseload-power-more-facts-on-wind-solar-batteries-grids/And our previous newsletter on gas price caps, corporate profiteering, and how gas tax pauses are pointless and often just benefit corporations who vacuum up the difference: https://secure.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/mailing/view?id=3916&reset=1As Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood puts it: “what's interesting is that we don't have a solar and wind to battery strategy when every other part of the world has decided that it is so much cheaper and so much more efficient and so much quicker to mobilize solar and wind than any other kind of power.” Indeed, "Canada, the Global Electricity Review found, is an outlier to the market trend. Renewable energy plant construction has dropped over the past two years, leaving wind and solar power accounting for just nine per cent of the country’s electricity mix, less than half the average among the G7."Be sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates (& our eNewsletters above) from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

April 22, 2026Episode 1074 hr 34 min

Gas Price Caps ARE Viable, Profiteering by Big Oil, Earth Day & a Bonus Compilation

Earth Day special episode with links to resources on biodiversity and nature, information on the cost of living and price caps on gas, and an update on a recent demonstration (pictured) that saw hundreds of people in Montreal protest against Federal cuts to climate action and services. Find out more:Our special Earth Day newsletter edition with Ole and Lynn's message, resources for Earth Day and more about our team: https://secure.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/mailing/view?id=3920&reset=1Another special newsletter (with sources and more details) on why gas price caps are viable in Canada and profiteering by big oil and gas (as well as why cutting gas taxes is by contrast not a good idea) here: https://secure.sierraclub.ca/civicrm/mailing/view?id=3916&reset=1Help support this work on Earth Day: https://www.sierraclub.ca/ways-to-support/donate/Episodes in the compilation after the intro on Earth Day and price caps and approximate start time:The Trap of Individual Impact, Acting as a Community, & Migration - Voices in NL (8 minutes in).Anti-gaz de schiste du N.-B. avec Denise Melanson (44 minutes in).Urban Bee Populations and Climate Change (1 hour and 25 minutes in).When the Last Glacier Melted, the World Would Catch on Fire (2 hours and 12 minutes in).L'environnement, c'est intersectionnel avec Lourdenie Jean (3 hours and 4 minutes in).Decolonizing Climate Research with Dr. Enoch Tse (3 hours 38 minutes in).Be sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

April 8, 2026Episode 10636 min

Women navigating climate emergencies highlighted in new film, Emergence

Emergence: Women in the Storm "goes beyond the headlines to explore how women are navigating climate-based emergencies." Nova Ami, Velcrow Ripper, and Meghan Fandrich join the podcast to talk about the new film, communicating on climate change with others, poetry, and how women are taking action.Find out more about the film, streaming, and screenings at: https://www.emergence.film/Find our more about Meghan's book, Burning Sage, and work at: https://www.meghanfandrich.com/From Sierra Club Canada's side of things here is even more advice on talking to others, links to polling, and general fact sheets on climate change and energy issues:Advice on talking with others on climate and energy issues: https://www.sierraclub.ca/avoid-framing-traps-in-climate-action-conversations/Polling sources and information on even more polling: https://www.sierraclub.ca/lng-national-interest-canada/Canada Can Go 100% Renewable: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-can-go-100-renewable/How batteries let renewables get around needing baseload power: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-intermittent-baseload-power-wind-solar-batteries-grids-reliable/Canada Wind Power Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-wind-power-facts/Canada Electric Vehicles Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-electric-vehicles-facts/A comprehensive list of climate denial myths and why they are myths: https://skepticalscience.com/argument.phpBe sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/ Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

March 31, 2026Episode 10511 min

Canada Supports U.S. Energy Dominance? Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better & Fortress North America

You can't win against U.S. oligarchy by letting oligarchy in through the back door. All the defence spending in the world doesn't matter in that case because you have misjudged how the U.S. influence strategy works.“The U.S. wants to achieve energy dominance. We support you in that view… [as] Fortress North America” Tim Hodgson, the Canadian Energy Minister recently told the U.S. Regarding Trump's U.S. tech billionaire friends wanting to build out AI data centres: “We can provide [the] gas,” Hodgson said.Polling shows this is NOT what Canadians want; not in Alberta nor NL.Back in December 2025 we warned that Trump’s new 'National Security' Strategy declared U.S. plans to use private sector influence erode Canadian sovereignty. The strategy mentions the oil and gas and tech sectors in particular as tools for expanding U.S. influence and specifically declares climate action in other countries to be a threat to U.S. dominance. All the more reason to take climate action if we want sovereignty, but U.S. influence is working...Thanks to big oil and gas' influence, our Federal Government’s plan is now to:Help the U.S. Government and their AI tech billionaire friends torch the climate, causing more out of control wildfires, so they can generate AI slop and disinformation (to be used against Canada) via water-wasting, gas-powered, data centres.Trust oil and gas corporations and FURTHER INTEGRATE OUR ECONOMY with the U.S. while holding back the renewable energy that could actually improve sovereignty (which is what oil and gas interests have wanted all along).Our situation brings to mind a warning from George Orwell in Animal Farm that even governments with the best of initial intentions can become the thing they claim to prevent (a warning that we must always hold leaders to account): "Four legs good, two legs better.""Canadian sovereignty good, Fortress North America better," must not become a legitimate idea. Find out more in our Newsletter (WITH SOURCES): https://www.sierraclub.ca/canadian-gas-ai-data-centres-keystone-xl-fortress-north-america/Call Your MP: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/enAnd speak with others!See our Sovereignty Saturdays podcast sub-series for even more context: https://www.sierraclub.ca/sovereignty-saturdays-canada-podcast/Be sure to send us your questions at communications@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

March 25, 2026Episode 10450 min

Les professionnel.le.s de la santé dans le mouvement écologiste

Quel rôle est-ce que les professionnel.le.s de la santé ont dans le mouvement écologiste? Diamond Yao s'entretient avec Dre Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, médecin de famille à Montréal et présidente de l'Association québécoise des médecins pour l'environnement (AQME).Envoyez-nous vos questions pour le podcast à communications@sierraclub.caEt n'oubliez pas de passer à l'action !Veuillez noter : Les opinions exprimées dans ce podcast ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles de la Fondation Sierra Club Canada ou de nos sections ou programmes.Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

March 17, 2026Episode 10323 min

Thrift Shopping, Social Media, & Youth Supporting Sierra Club Canada at Their School

Taylor talks with students (Haley & Shirley) from Bur Oak Secondary School about a thrift shop fundraiser they ran at their school to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of overconsumption and the importance of thrift shopping - and to raise funds for Sierra Club Canada. They also discuss the impact of social media advertising on youth and the need for people to reconnect with the natural world and each other offline.In the 'Q&A' section we talk about the difference between post reactions on social media and public opinion as well as how advertisers re-target those who engage with their content.Be sure to send us your questions at communications@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here (but also go get outside and talk to each other as well!): https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

March 10, 2026Episode 1028 min

Iran war UNDERMINES new oil & LNG projects in Canada - but oil corporations still profit...

Oil & gas interests are already lying about the future of their Canadian projects and profiting as a result of the Iran war. In reality price shocks due to the U.S. war on Iran - along with the U.S. attempt to cut Cuba off from oil - will convince countries to move to renewables faster. That in turn makes new Canadian oil, gas and LNG projects LESS viable as they rely on long term demand for their products.Even before the Iran war, the International Energy Agency still expected oil demand to plateau around 2030 (and gas demand to plateau shortly after) and then decline due to the global transition to renewable energy, and there are enough oil and gas projects already to meet that demand. The price of fossil fuels in Canada will rise – increasing the cost of living and inflation. This is only in part because of supply shocks due to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, but largely because of speculation: In other words, oil and gas corporations will make a lot of profit off Canadians via inflated prices that are only partially the result of actual supply problems. This speculation was what really happened after Russia invaded Ukraine and it helped cost Canadians $12,000 per household.Find SOURCES for the above polling and correcting corporate-spread myths linked here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/iran-war-gas-prices-oil-pipeline-lng/ Other reading:U.K. is doubling down on clean energy, not despite the Iran crisis — but because of it (Politico).Canada Can Go 100% Renewable: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-can-go-100-renewable/How batteries let renewables get around needing baseload power: https://www.sierraclub.ca/renewable-energy-intermittent-baseload-power-wind-solar-batteries-grids-reliable/Canada Wind Power Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-wind-power-facts/Canada Electric Vehicles Facts: https://www.sierraclub.ca/canada-electric-vehicles-facts/Max Fawcett: https://bsky.app/profile/maxfawcett.bsky.social/post/3mgftrqtp622khttps://www.falseprofits.ca/“[China] aspires to dominate emerging fields of robotics, renewables and artificial intelligence. With this plan, the country’s leadership appears to have calculated it can withstand any short-term economic shocks from an oil crisis.” – CBC News.Middle East war strengthens case for renewables, says Microsoft energy chief in the Financial Times.Questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here.And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/

February 24, 2026Episode 1012 hr 8 min

Canadian Senate Presentation Offshore Wind & Faulty Oil Economics in Newfoundland & Labrador

Gretchen Fitzgerald (Our Executive Director) and Shauna Kelly (our Offshore Wind Coordinator for Newfoundland and Labrador) present to the Canadian Senate on offshore wind and the economic infeasibility of offshore oil development in Newfoundland and Labrador. At the end there’s also a recording of Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn (MTI) presenting to the same senate committee about the lack of Indigenous consultation around Equinor's Bay du Nord oil project.You can find a full list of sources for our information in this episode on the page for this podcast episode on our website (scroll down past the description on the website), as there are too many sources to fit in this description space: https://www.sierraclub.ca/wind-oil-canadian-senate-newfoundland-labrador/You can also watch this episode as a video podcast on that page: https://www.sierraclub.ca/wind-oil-canadian-senate-newfoundland-labrador/Be sure to send us your questions at info@sierraclub.ca and sign up for email updates from us here: https://www.sierraclub.ca/subscribe-for-updates/And don't forget to take action: https://www.sierraclub.ca/take-action/Support the showFind out more and take action at sierraclub.ca/take-action/