"No Pathways, No Pipeline" makes No Sense says Friends of Science Society Citing Global Energy Shortfall and No Climate Emergency

CALGARY, AB, May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime Minister Mark Carney's stance of "No Pathways, no pipeline" as reported by CTV News on May 25, 2026, makes no sense in a world facing an extreme energy shortfall, says Friends of Science Society, in response to the recently signed Implementation Agreement between Canada and Alberta.

Friends of Science Society sees many problems with the agreement and issued an Open Letter to Premier Danielle Smith. They also produced a video explainer titled, "Canada-Alberta Implementation Agreement: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

"Pathways" is part of Carney's net zero quest for "decarbonized" oil. It is the quid pro quo for the promise (but no guarantee) of an oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast.

"Pathways" is a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project of the Oil Sands Alliance, where six major oil sands companies had proposed to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) from some 20 oil production sites and pipe it 400 km to an underground storage hub near Cold Lake. The estimated cost is in the range of >$20 billion, much of it to be funded by tax dollars and tax credits. With the global energy shortfall, former Pathways supporters like Martha Hall Findlay, an architect of the project, says now is not the time, as reported in the Edmonton Journal on May 19, 2026.

Friends of Science say in their letter that, "The Pathways Project will allegedly sequester ~11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Canada's annual emissions in 2024 were 685 million tonnes. …the Pathways Project will reduce Canada's annual emissions by 2.3%." 

Prime Minister Carney established a strategic partnership with China in January. China is the world's largest emitter. Any Canadian emissions reduction via Pathways will be outpaced in hours by China.

On CTV, Environment Minister Julie Drabusin celebrated the fact that the agreement means the industrial carbon tax in Alberta is set to rise six-fold from a current trading baseline price of some $20/t. A full schedule is laid out in the agreement.

Friends of Science Society argue that Canada's largest trading partner is the USA which does not have a carbon tax; this will make Canadian products noncompetitive. The US has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and all related climate commitments. They point out that even Microsoft, the world's largest buyer of permanent carbon removal credits, is in retreat.

Friends of Science Society says there is also no climate case to justify carbon removals and overlapping climate policies. The catastrophic scenario, disseminated for over a decade as the "business-as-usual" case (known as RCP 8.5 or SSP5-8.5) has been deemed implausible and officially withdrawn.

The removal of RCP 8.5 has sparked controversy in the German Bundestag, CLINTEL reports, "raises broader questions about how climate risks have been communicated — and whether exaggerated scenarios were used to justify far-reaching policies."

In the UK in a Times Radio interview, former Prime Minister Tony Blair is calling on the Starmer government to cancel Net Zero plans, reopen North Sea oil and gas, and make energy affordable again.

Friends of Science also point out that Kotz et al (2024), a paper forecasting an economic catastrophe due to climate change has been retracted. Central banks had incorporated the unrealistic damage function into their climate risk assessments. Friends of Science Society addressed these material changes in an Open Letter to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Services on May 06, 2026.

Furthermore, Friends of Science argues in the letter to Premier Smith, that the world is facing a staggering shortfall in energy, due to the war-damaged Gulf production facilities and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Canadian producers need to capitalize on this opportunity, not face more impediments.

Friends of Science Society sees "decarbonized" oil as a shell game, as discussed in this video. In a 2022 report by retired energy economist, Robert Lyman, carbon capture was described as a "trap" for taxpayers, due to the subsidies required.

The Canada-Alberta Implementation Agreement made some concessions on the Clean Electricity regulations, but Friends of Science challenges the claim "The future is electric. Is it?". The agreement also includes a commitment to methane reduction, which Friends of Science says is expensive and unnecessary, as outlined in this video.

About
Friends of Science Society is an independent group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens that is celebrating its 24th year of offering climate science insights. After a thorough review of a broad spectrum of literature on climate change, Friends of Science Society has concluded that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Friends of Science Society
PO Box 61172 RPO Kensington
Calgary AB T2N 4S6
Canada
Toll-free Telephone: 1-888-789-9597
Web: friendsofscience.org 
E-mail: contact(at)friendsofscience(dot)org 
Web: climatechange101.ca

SOURCE Friends of Science Society