Trudeau picks ex-Greenpeace activist dubbed ‘Green Jesus’ as climate chief, angering Canada’s oil-rich west

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a post-election overhaul of his authorities connected Tuesday, naming a erstwhile Greenpeace activistic dubbed “Green Jesus” arsenic situation and clime alteration curate successful a determination that has caused consternation successful the country’s oil-rich west.

The appointment, conscionable days retired from the COP26 clime acme successful Glasgow, suggests Trudeau — who had antecedently offered support for the country’s lipid and state manufacture portion besides implementing measures specified arsenic a c taxation — is coming down firmly connected the broadside of clime action.

Steven Guilbeault, the caller minister, worked for situation advocacy groups including Greenpeace for much than a decennary earlier entering politics. Nicknamed the “Green Jesus of Montreal” by Quebec paper La Presse, helium once scaled Toronto’s CN Tower to unveil a banner that denounced Canada and then-president George W. Bush arsenic “climate killers.”

“Putting an activistic into a relation similar this … truly does awesome that the Trudeau authorities is intensifying its committedness to enactment connected clime alteration and vigor transition,” said Lisa Young, a governmental idiosyncratic astatine the University of Calgary.

Guilbeault’s assignment comes a period aft Trudeau’s authorities released assertive oil-sector emissions targets. Canada is the world’s fourth-biggest lipid producer.

Trudeau narrowly eked retired a win successful national elections successful September, and making a stronger propulsion connected biology issues whitethorn beryllium a mode to reward voters who backed his Liberal number authorities and cement his bequest successful what could beryllium a last term.

“This mightiness beryllium his past accidental … to truly determination connected immoderate argumentation issues,” Young said, noting that Guilbeault has campaigned for the national authorities to restrict lipid and state improvement and stymie lipid from getting to planetary markets. “The strategy present seems to beryllium gradually cornering the manufacture successful bid to trim its comparative value to the Canadian economy.”

Trudeau’s reshuffle, which besides moved a earthy resources curate who was trusted by the vigor manufacture to different portfolio, was criticized successful the oil-rich state of Alberta, agelong a bedrock of enactment for blimpish parties.

Guilbeault’s “background and way grounds connected these issues suggest idiosyncratic who is much of an absolutist than a pragmatist erstwhile it comes to uncovering solutions,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told reporters Tuesday, adding that the assignment was a “very problematic” signal.

In Guilbeault, Trudeau “couldn’t person picked a much cleanable villain,” said Heather Exner-Pirot, a chap astatine the Macdonald-Laurier Institute successful Calgary, Canada’s lipid capital. “This sends a chilling awesome to imaginable investors who mightiness person been funny successful investing successful Canada.”

Global greenhouse state emissions are connected a catastrophic trajectory, and developed nations volition autumn abbreviated of a pledge made much than a decennary agone to mobilize $100 cardinal a twelvemonth by 2020 to assistance processing nations modulation to greener economies and accommodate to clime change, 2 reports concluded Monday, one of them co-authored by Canada.

Without more-ambitious pledges, the satellite is projected to lukewarm 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) by the extremity of the period compared with the extremity of the 1800s — acold supra the Paris clime accord’s extremity of limiting warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels.

Trudeau has said addressing clime alteration is simply a apical priority, and pledged net-zero c emissions by 2050. But the Climate Action Tracker estimated that Canada would miss its 2020 emissions people adjacent with reduced concern enactment owed to the pandemic. The state is 1 of the world’s largest emitters of c connected a per-capita basis, according to Our World successful Data.