We are in a climate emergency

We are in a climate emergency. The debate is no longer about how we can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is: how do we eliminate all emissions as quickly as possible? In this context, the transportation sector offers a wide array of low-hanging fruit. In Canada, transportation is the second largest climate-threatening sector—right after oil and gas. A quarter of our GHG come from transportation. And all of that is related to our dependence on the internal combustion engine. The amount of GHG from transportation is largely in moving people around, 91 MT/year (MT meaning million tons—megaton—of carbon dioxide equivalent), and moving goods around, 76 MT/year. Our first step in decarbonizing transportation is to revolutionize electricity generation. We need to move to 100 per cent renewable energy as the source of our electricity—as rapidly as possible. To assist provinces with little to no renewable energy to kick the carbon habit, the East-West electricity grid needs to be modernized and made truly inter-provincial. Then a province, like Alberta, could get its electricity from British Columbia, during the period within which it moves to boost its enormous potential in solar and wind. Ontario could benefit from more Manitoba Hydro and so on. In our future Canada, all cars will—by law—be electric. A grid of EV charging stations needs to be established cross country. The employment generated by improving the East-West grid, ramping up renewables and ensuring access for every Canadian to fast charging is just the start. The non-transportation job creation in meeting the climate challenge is largely in building retrofits to ensure our built infrastructure becomes carbon-zero—or even negative carbon. Back to transportation. As long as internal combustion engine vehicles are still available, Canada must ensure that SUVs, vans, and light trucks meet high fuel economy standards. The sad reality is that while cars have reduced emissions substantially over the last 25 years, every gain in fuel efficiency in passenger vehicles has been overwhelmed by the huge increase in light trucks and SUVs. In fact, emissions from cars dropped 23 per cent from 1990-2015, but light trucks, vans and SUVs doubled their emissions. As a result, emissions from Canadian passenger vehicles rose by 17 per cent overall. The rest of the GHG from transportation are due to freight. Much of that is from trucking; relatively less from rail. The more we can move people and goods by rail, the better. Most of the infrastructure dollars in federal spending has been focused on inner-city public transit. Those dollars are very welcome—and more is needed to ensure urban dwellers can commute without using a personal vehicle. But we need to consider the needs of Canadians living in more rural areas. Any modern economy needs to have an efficient, convenient, safe passenger rail system. We need to revamp VIA Rail. Our rail system is inadequate to the needs of our economy. We have not significantly invested in cross-country passenger rail in more than two decades. Investment in VIA Rail has largely been confined to the Windsor-Quebec Corridor. We must re-invest in our national passenger rail infrastructure, working toward high-speed rail connections in Canada’s busiest passenger corridors—such as Edmonton to Calgary. To better serve rural communities, struggling with loss of bus service, we must invest in intermodal connections, increase funding for joint federal-municipal light rail projects, as well as restore VIA rail service to all major regional cities. Why not build critical dedicated rail in places where it is a constant drag on passenger rail that freight takes priority. A 20-kilometre length of track outside Kingston could allow VIA Rail to run on time between Ottawa and Toronto. Imagine an electrified VIA Rail, on new and better tracks, separated from freight and able to meet a schedule. A new VIA Rail system will be the spine in a national transportation system, with light rail networks allowing interconnectivity. We also need a national clean rail freight initiative that uses both regulatory means and financial incentives to improve fleet efficiency and safety, such as through positive train control. The trucking fleet can also go electric over time. In the short-term, technologies such as Empire Hydrogen can dramatically improve fuel efficiency of the Canadian trucking fleet and cut costs through its on-board system to capture and recycle hydrogen through the engine. Truck drivers love the smoother ride; truck fleet owners love the fuel savings. Canadians should no longer accept the absence of a national transportation strategy. It is time to build one and build one doing some of the heavy lifting to avoid climate catastrophe. Green Party Elizabeth May represents Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C. The Hill Times