Canadian Senate Presentation Offshore Wind & Faulty Oil Economics in Newfoundland & Labrador
The Environment in Canada Podcast video episode below on offshore wind and oil and the Canadian Senate (Ep. 101, February 18 2026). Sources for information on renewable energy and oil and gas economics listed below as well.
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 Bay du Nord oil project.
More Information / Sources:
On why wind and solar paired with batteries and grid solutions negate the need for gas plants and new fossil fuel infrastructure:
“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.”
- New Research Challenges Need for Baseload Power Plants, German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) summary in The Energy Mix, 2024.
- Baseload myths and why we need to change how we look at our grid: It is a meaningless concept at the least and dangerous at its worst, Pembina Institute 2017.
- Did Renewable Energy like Wind and Solar Really Damage the Alberta Power Grid? The answer is no (podcast on the huge roles renewable energy like solar and wind, and battery storage, played in helping to solve a freezing temperature power crisis in Alberta).
- The Energy Mix coverage on battery storage in Canada and elsewhere.
- The Energy Mix coverage on renewable energy generally in Canada and elsewhere.
- In the U.S. “wind companies rank among the biggest taxpayers in many rural communities, with their total tax bills at times outstripping that of large farms, power plants and other major businesses…. Farmers who sign wind leases can also continue farming most of their land while adding additional revenue.”
On oil and gas demand and the reasons why no new oil and gas projects will be needed:
- Oil Change International points out recent claims that oil and gas demand would continue to grow globally past the early 2030s are based on a single, faulty, scenario that the International Energy Agency (IEA) had previously abandoned and only re-published following pressure from the current U.S. Administration.
- A summary of sources on why Bay du Nord and offshore oil are particularly economically unviable given coming drops in demand.
- A summary of various sources with links to more information on oil and gas demand peaking in the 2030s, why AI data centres prefer renewable energy, and why renewables are taking off globally (focussed on LNG but with sources concerning oil demand as well).
- A November 2025 report by the UK-based Carbon Tracker shows a stark picture of the revenue losses provincial governments will face in the next decade as oil and gas demand dries up globally:
- “By 85% in Alberta, from $153 billion to $23 billion;
- By 72% in British Columbia, from $47 billion to $13 billion;
- By 78% in Saskatchewan, from $16 billion to $3.5 billion;
- By nearly 100% in Newfoundland and Labrador, from $4.4 billion to $300 million.” (4).
- Report by the ACCR assessed ten major oil and gas companies, including Equinor.
- Equinor’s stock downgraded due in part to continued consideration of Bay du Nord.
- “The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) found that Newfoundland and Labrador subsidized fossil fuel companies to the tune of $82 million in 2020-2021 and even more the following year.”
Renewable Energy Fact Sheets:
- Wind Energy Facts: Reliable, cheap, provides both jobs and revenue.
- Electric vehicle facts.
- Canada can go 100% renewable.
Additionally check out our previous podcast: Terrible Equinor Oil Spill Modelling as Brazil Suffers Severe Climate Impacts.
72% of Albertans wish to maintain or increase federal climate action and action to transition the country to clean energy. Recent polling showed 65-67% of Canadians nationally want renewables instead of oil & gas development (it’s 77% in BC). A majority of Canadians continue to oppose oil and gas subsidies. Fewer than 1 in 5 Canadians want their tax dollars going to largely foreign-owned companiesto build more LNG projects. As of September 2025, “70 per cent of the public would feel pride if Canada were to become a renewable energy superpower, versus only 30 percent feeling that way about becoming an oil and gas superpower…. These results include a majority of Albertans (56 per cent) and 79 per cent of people living in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
This is a special early video episode release. It will be available on other podcast platforms next Tuesday as well.
Gretchen Fitzgerald, Executive Director, and Shauna Kelly, Offshore Wind Coordinator for Newfoundland and Labrador