Tell Canadian politicians not repeat Alberta’s energy nightmare – send a message now
(LifeSiteNews) — Alberta’s Minister of Energy criticized the federally funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for publishing a report stating that electric cars are better able to handle cold weather than gas-powered ones, all at the same time an extreme cold snap gripped much of Western Canada, and nearly caused Alberta’s power grid to collapse.
Despite the bitterly cold weather, the CBC ran a report, with the headline ‘”Electric cars ‘the best vehicle’ in frigid temperatures, Sask. advocates say.” The report highlighted how owners of EVs such as Tesla’s, in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, claim their cars better handle the extreme cold.
“It heats up faster than any gas car I’ve ever had. It’s more reliable,” claimed Telsa Model 3 owner Tyler Krause, who also sits on the board for the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association and founded the Tesla Owners Club of Saskatchewan.
Alberta Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean was having none of what he called a CBC “parody.”
“Another home run from CBC. Is this parody?” Jean posted on X (formerly Twitter) in reply to the CBC report and to Conservative Party of Canada MP and former party leader Andrew Scheer, who blasted the report as well.
Scheer posted on X (formerly Twitter), “While the Alberta govt asks people not to charge their electric cars due to the extreme cold straining the grid, CBC publishes this article. Brilliant. $1.3 billion of your tax dollars ladies and gentlemen.”
The cold snap over the weekend saw temperatures in some regions drop to nearly minus-50 degrees Celsius (minus-58 degrees Fahrenheit).
The cold weather was so intense that the province’s Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) declared a grid alert, stating that power flow was near collapse due to inadequate production from renewable sources such as solar and wind. All the province’s natural gas generators were working overtime, with no contribution from wind or solar.
When it comes to EVs, the main downside, besides long charging times, is reduced range in extreme cold weather. An example of this is a Tesla Model 3, which according to Krause could go maybe 500 kilometres on one charge in warm weather but only 300 kilometres in the cold.
Gas-powered vehicles, when plugged in with a block heater that heats the engine coolant or oil can start and warm up just as quickly as an EV. A well-maintained gas car will also start in extreme cold weather.
Also, EVs add strain to an already strained electrical grid, a fact pointed out by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith amid the cold snap.
On Saturday, Smith pleaded with citizens to “unplug” their electric vehicles and conserve energy in other ways to avoid brownouts.
In response to the situation, the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, which was also facing the same cold snap, announced it would provide Alberta with electricity to stabilize the grid.
Many, including Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, noted that the incident served as a stark reminder of the potential dangers of a looming federal mandate calling for an eventual end to oil and gas power production in favor of less reliable wind and solar power.
The federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to force net-zero regulations on all Canadian provinces, notably on electricity generation, as early as 2035. His government has also refused to extend a carbon tax exemption on heating fuels to all provinces, allowing only Atlantic provinces this benefit.
Canada’s government is also going after consumer choice when it comes to what kind of vehicles people can purchase.
Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced just before Christmas the “Electric Vehicle Availability Standard.” This is a plan that will mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, which would in effect ban the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.
Alberta plans to fight fed EV and ‘net zero’ 2035 mandate
Smith has promised that she intends to fight with “everything” at her disposal what she called an “unconstitutional” new federal government EV mandate as well as a net-zero power generation, which if implemented would lead to guaranteed power outages.
She noted that when it comes to Trudeau’s EV mandate, “Ottawa is trying to force increased demands on the electricity grid while simultaneously weakening Alberta’s and other provinces’ grids through their federal electricity regulations.”
“Our electric grids are not equipped to handle the massive demand surge that a forced full-scale transition to EVs would need to accommodate the delusional timelines in Ottawa’s regulations, and the federal government has not provided remotely enough financial assistance to assist provincial grids to meet this mandated electricity demand,” she noted.
Smith laid out how she has a plan to “shield” Alberta from the federal government’s 2035 dictates, adding that her province will “not tolerate it.”
Trudeau’s war on the internal combustion engine comes despite the fact Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, which is produced ethically, unlike in other nations.
Electric cars cost thousands more to make and buy, are not suited to Canada’s cold climate, offer poor range and long charging times (especially in cold weather), and have batteries that take tremendous resources to make and are hard to recycle.
A recent report from the Western Standard documents how one Alberta couple found out the hard way that going EV does save not time or money.
Trudeau’s EV mandates have also been called out by the automotive industry in Canada. The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said in response to the new EV mandate that forcing people to buy EVs will “disproportionately impact households living in rural and northern communities that may have lower access to public charging infrastructure.”
Since taking office in 2015, Trudeau has continued to push a radical environmental agenda similar to the agendas being pushed the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and the United Nations’ “Sustainable Development Goals.”
The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.
A June 2017 peer-reviewed study by two scientists and a veteran statistician confirmed that most of the recent global warming data have been “fabricated by climate scientists to make it look more frightening.”
Tell Canadian politicians not repeat Alberta’s energy nightmare – send a message now