Quebec Decarbonization Plan - Expensive and Unlikely says new Friends of Science Society Reports; Canada must REcarbonize for National Security

CALGARY, AB, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Friends of Science Society report titled, "Quebec's Pursuit Of Decarbonization: A Difficult and Costly Challenge with Questionable Benefits," along with a French version, "La Quête de Décarbonation du Québec: Un défi difficile et coûteux aux bénéfices discutables" demonstrates the futility and economic damage of net zero policies. 

Report author Robert Lyman, retired energy economist, former federal public servant and diplomat, discusses the extraordinary build-out and costs involved, writing, "Hydro-Quebec estimates that it needs more than 100 terawatt-hours of additional electricity – more than half its annual generating capacity – to reach the government's goal of being "carbon neutral" by 2050. It seeks to add 8,000-9,000 MW of generating capacity by 2050, and to add 5,000 km of transmission lines. The investments needed to achieve this amount to $110 billion by 2035."

He points out that, "Climate change policy must be viewed in an international context. Canada produces only 1.5% of the annual global GHG emissions, and Quebec produces less than 0.2%. Quebec's per capita GHG emissions are around 9.1 tonnes, roughly half the Canadian average."

Quebec is famous for its massive hydro power, "Over 99% of the electricity generated is from renewable energy sources, almost entirely from low-cost hydro," but Lyman points out that, "Hydrocarbons supply about half of Quebec's energy needs, more than electricity."

 A recent op-ed in the Western Standard by the Friends of Science Society's Communications Manager argues that "Electrify everything is a geopolitical trap." Canada must REcarbonize for national security; the push for "electrify everything" seems to come from a suspect source.  According to energy mavens and geopolitical commentators at Doomberg, they characterize the "Firehorse" of China as driving this narrative. 

In a recent Doomberg Substack podcast they noted: "We don't think it is a coincidence that China has been flooding Western academia and poli-sci making think tanks with the concept that the world should electrify everything. In other words, we should move away from gasoline and diesel and even jet fuel towards electricity and batteries and renewables because this plays directly into China's strength. The more the world electrifies, the more China can use external demand for industries it dominates in order to weaken its geopolitical opponents and play to its own internal strengths…"

A National Association of Scholars (NAS) report titled, "Behind the Climate Curtain China's Hidden Role in California's Energy Mandates and University Partnerships" raises troubling questions, including about the role of cap-and-trade and global carbon pricing initiatives in California.  Quebec is a sub-national partner in the California carbon market. According to the International Carbon Action Partnership, the average 2025 auction price for Quebec permits was CAD 39.39 (USD 28.14).

On June 25, 2026, the State of Washington signed an agreement to begin to link their carbon markets. 

Alberta's oil sands has been plagued for decades by the so-called "Tar Sands Campaign" led by various environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), some referred to in the NAS report.

In the face of on-going global energy shocks and deficits, Friends of Science Society posted an Open Letter to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to reconsider climate risk Guideline B-15 in order to REcarbonize Canada for national security.  Canada must abandon climate ideology that is based on flawed science as explained by leading Canadian physicist, Prof. William van Wijngaarden.

As Robert Lyman outlined in the 2020 "Prosperity Foregone," billions of dollars in pipelines and energy projects in Canada have been blocked and cancelled due to Tar Sands Campaign activism to landlock Alberta oil. This left Canada with one main oil and gas customer – the USA.  Friends of Science Society issued two reports on this activism, "Fear and Loathing – The Alberta Oil Sands, from national pride to international pariah," and "Protest vs Green Trade War."

Dr. Tammy Nemeth, UK energy analyst and podcaster (The Nemeth Report) wrote a report for the Allan Inquiry into the Tar Sands Campaign funding, titled, "A New Global Paradigm: Understanding the Transnational Progressive Movement, the Energy Transition and the Great Transformation Strangling Alberta's Petroleum Industry."  In this recent interview, she outlines the surprising scope of the movement and some of its objectives.

About
Friends of Science Society is an independent group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens that is celebrating its 24^th 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).

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SOURCE Friends of Science Society