Oil & Gas Corporations are Tied to U.S. Interests. Renewables Help Protect Our Sovereignty

Energy workers deserve REAL renewable solutions. There are strong ties between many oil and gas corporations and American interests. Misinformation – used against environmental action – spreads regularly on social media, and a lot of mainstream news in Canada is actually American-owned.

Canada is facing real crises, from threats to our sovereignty to pollution-fueled wildfires and floods that are tearing apart lives and devastating whole communities. Meanwhile, global demand for oil is set to peak by 2029 and then decline, according to the International Energy Agency, with demand for gas peaking this decade too as other countries shift to renewable energy.

We don’t have to agree on everything to agree that we need action to build a renewable future of our own. Indeed 65% of Canadians agree that renewable energy should take priority (INSTEAD of oil & gas development) when it comes to energy development (March 2025, Leger poll).

Building up Canadian renewable energy and protecting the environment in a fair way are vital to Canada’s independence, to Canada’s economy, to good jobs, to addressing the cost of living, and to our continued health.

In the face of these existential threats to Canada, the environment is not just some secondary issue – but is actually front and centre:

 

  • Renewable energy solutions are a great way we can build a stronger, more resilient, and more independent Canadian economy. By creating more green jobs we can create stable and localized employment that helps get us off oil and gas dependency.

 

  • Again oil and gas demand globally is expected to peak this decade and go into decline.

 

  • We already have renewable solutions for when the sun does not shine or the wind does not blow, such as interconnecting grids, diversified renewables, energy storage, and energy efficiency. But we cannot control global oil and gas prices and markets. 

 

 

  • Relying on oil and gas for employment and energy leaves us exposed to the decisions of other countries and exposed to international crises. These international factors can cause rapid shifts in oil and gas prices that are beyond our control.

 

  • As noted there are also strong ties between many oil and gas corporations in Canada and American interests which is why it’s so important we do renewable energy growth differently. We need a renewable energy future that’s based on a Canadian supply chain, for example by using Canadian aluminum and Steel in wind turbines. We need to make sure any data centres in Canada are powered by renewable energy since it localizes benefits and creates more jobs. That renewable future that can also build up Canadian manufacturing in the process.

 

Oil and gas corporations, while only 5% of Canada’s economy, are Canada’s most polluting sector causing around 30% of national emissions. Between 1990 and 2022, emissions from oil sands production grew by 467% and conventional oil production by 24% – since 2005 emissions overall increased 11%. Meanwhile, other sectors, and individual Canadians, cut their emissions. 

Thirteen oil and gas corporations operating or based in Canada are also on the list of 88 big carbon polluters being called out for a major share of the forested lands lost to wildfires in North America between 1986 and 2021.

 

  • We can protect the environment in a fair way.

 

  • But let’s not forget climate change. Climate impacts are also making an increasing number of homes in Canada un-insurable. We’re losing communities and lives to wildfires, and extreme storms, and without action that will get worse.

Adaptation is not enough, we need to prevent future harm to our climate by cutting pollution.

Anyone who has ever lit a campfire will know that the conditions into which a spark enters matter. If it’s dry and hot then fires start more easily, and they burn faster and hotter. Well pollution is driving Canadian wildfires by making conditions dryer and hotter and Canada can and should be a leader in addressing that problem.

  • Water is also under threat from American interests, as are natural spaces like the Great Lakes. 

If we want to talk about true Canadian resilience then ensuring local ecosystems and water are protected is one of the best ways we can build that resilience. Canada’s strength, our ability to weather hard economic times, is fundamentally tied to local biodiversity, water, and green spaces. Abundant and clean water is central to growing food and farming communities. Biodiversity is threatened right now and it doesn’t need to be. There are plenty of solutions out there that can help solve social problems, like the need for more housing and the cost of living, while also protecting the ecosystems our communities rely on.

The old story that it’s always a question of the economy versus the environment overlooks the fact that our local economies in Canada, the economies that give us strength in times of crisis, are reliant on the environment.

As always, subscribe for updates if you’d like to see more content like this and email us at communications@sierraclub.ca with any questions you may have.

The person who can make the biggest impact right now in advocating for our environment and renewable energy, the person who can make sure all the candidates know that we care…

That person is YOU.

Authorized by Sierra Club Canada Foundation. 613-241-4611   //   1-888-810-4204
info@sierraclub.ca