Opinion: Time to reframe the question around our energy needs

Jim Elliott, OPINION

REGINA LEADER POST

The recent “fight” over Line 5 in Ontario presupposes a narrative that is unproductive and pushes us into the game of whack-a-mole. If it isn’t Line 5, then it is Energy East. If it isn’t Energy East, then it is Keystone. If it isn’t Keystone … you get the picture.

© Provided by Leader Post A view of the Imperial Oil refinery, located near Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline, which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered shut down, is pictured in Sarnia, Ont., on March 20, 2021. PHOTO BY CARLOS OSORIO /REUTERS

I believe we need to change the language and the question. Most politicians and the fossil fuel industry would want you to believe that energy = fossil fuels. We need energy, therefore, we need fossil fuels. If it isn’t coal, then it is natural gas. If it isn’t natural gas, then it is oil or bitumen. The fossil fuel industry wants you to believe there is no other path.

I will admit that most of what happens on this planet is based on energy use. But here is a scenario and different language: If you are a plant, you get your energy through photosynthesis with the source of that energy as the sun. You don’t need fossil fuels. If you are a human, then you need to eat plants and animals for energy. Energy is a service provider, not a product or widget.

We have to therefore ask a different question. Not, “Can we sell you coal, natural gas or oil?” We need to ask what services are you in need of and, once that is defined, you begin to assess the amount of need. In the case of a building and warmth, can that service of warmth be provided through the capture of energy that is already there instead of simply pumping more warmth into a very leaky building? Can that energy be maintained longer inside your home by building a better sealed energy envelop? If you design a building in which you have no need for a furnace, then what use is natural gas or oil or coal?

Once you have exhausted ways to reduce your energy need, then and only then should you be looking for energy sources. And you need to find the most-efficient and effective way to provide that energy source. For example, if your location has the highest and strongest source of solar energy (i.e. Estevan, often billed as Canada sunniest city) then why would you not look at photovoltaic or passive solar installations or geothermal energy? You don’t need to jump to the conclusion of we got to have more pipelines.

© Provided by Leader Post 

Solar should be the first option for energy production some argue.

What the fossil fuel industry has done is convince us to build leaky buildings and only get energy from fossil fuels. Our provincial utilities have been widget sellers for decades. We need to be converting them into energy service corporations and solve your problems with the best way possible, not just sell you more widgets.

Many of the pipelines will become stranded assets unless we wish to dig them up and recycle the steel. Oil and gas wells will become abandoned or, at best, converted to geothermal wells tapping into the renewable energy of the earth. The scar on the surface that is the tar sands can and will be left for the people of the next millennium and beyond to clean up and help nature restore the surface.

If we can only stop the fossil fuel industry from creating more sacrifice zones on the planet, we might have the possibility to take a different road, paved with long term sustainability, healthy people and a healthy planet.

Jim Elliott is chairperson of the Regina chapter of the Council of Canadians.

MORE UCP FIREWALL ALBERTA BS
Province proposes equalization referendum question

Alberta has introduced a motion in the provincial legislature to hold a referendum on equalization with the vote happening across the province in October.

On Monday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney introduced the motion, noting Alberta can’t unilaterally implement the outcome of the vote, rather it is intended to be a strategy to negotiate with the federal government.

On Oct. 18 Albertans will be asked: Should the section of the Constitution that commits the Government of Canada to the principle of making equalization payments be removed?

The premier said this is a concern he has heard from Albertans across the province.

"For millions of Albertans, equalization has become the most powerful symbol of the unfairness for Alberta's deal in Confederation and for good reason," Kenney said.

"This is a strategy to elevate Alberta's fight for fairness in the federation to the top of the national agenda – to get Ottawa's attention," he said.

The premier said this move is a legal tool to make a strong political and legal point to Ottawa.

Kenney campaigned in the last provincial election on holding a referendum on equalization, which he said other provinces benefit from while Alberta is financially hurt by decisions made in Ottawa and other provinces. The Fair Deal Panel put forward a referendum on equalization as a recommendation in its report.

The premier cited a litany of reasons for the strategy – the federal government “surrendering” to then-President Barrack Obama’s veto of Keystone XL, scrapping the Northern Gateway pipeline, opposing the Energy East pipeline, and allowing British Columbia to delay the Trans Mountain pipeline as just a few reasons Albertans wanted changes to the equalization program.

“One of the biggest sources of frustration, at least in my conversations with Albertans, has been the fundamental unfairness of the equalization program. While the experts and pundits often mock the very idea of trying to change equalization, Albertans do not,” Kenney said.

Most Albertans Kenney spoke with said that they don't mind helping out their fellow Canadians, but the premier said they don’t like the hostile way Alberta's oil industry is treated.

The results of the vote will have no legal impact, and changing the program will require a change to the Constitution, which would require two-thirds of the provinces voting in support.

Equalization payments are one of three federal transfer programs and the money for the program is generated through federal revenue, including GST and personal and corporate taxes.

Then the federal government transfers payments through the program to provinces whose economies are struggling. Provinces that do not have a difficult time raising revenue do not receive payments from the federal government.

The formula works by calculating what a province's revenue would be if all the tax rates were the same as the national average. Then equalization tops up provinces who are lower than the national average.

The program is intended to ensure there are no disparities across the provinces and all Canadians can enjoy similar services, regardless of which province they call home.

The vote will take place during municipal elections this fall.

Jennifer Henderson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette

Braid: Hydrogen could be the fuel for Kenney's popularity rebound

Don Braid, Calgary Herald 

Premier Jason Kenney’s overall approval rating from Albertans is down again, to 31 per cent.

© Provided by Calgary Herald Premier Jason Kenney in Edmonton on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, announced a strategy to grow and expand the natural gas sector.

Hot air won’t lift him up. Maybe hydrogen will, unless he and his ministers are hit with more scandals around COVID-19 rules.

Wednesday’s announcement of a $1.3-billion hydrogen project in Edmonton’s Heartland area was just the kind of news the UCP government needs.

Such a project is transformative, literally. It uses a good old Alberta feedstock, natural gas, to produce hydrogen while capturing and storing the CO2 from the natural gas.

The traditional industry is ensured markets, while the end product is high on most lists of “net-zero” emission fuels for decades to come.

When (and if) agreements with the company are finalized, this project will be a valuable symbol of Alberta’s shift to modern energy products that align with climate goals.

Albertans desperately desire two things, it seems to me — an end to this pandemic and the creation of a durable, prosperous economy that builds respectfully on the past.

There is no space between Alberta and Ottawa on the hydrogen push. Kenney agrees with the federal focus. The news conference was a symphony of mutual praise.

The U.S. chair and CEO of Air Products, Seifi Ghasemi, said the company is attracted by Canada’s world leadership in emissions policy.

“We are proud to expand our presence in this dynamic region, where we have found a vision for decarbonization that mirrors our core values,” he said.

Kenney pitched in enthusiastically. Forgotten for the moment was hostility to Ottawa’s far less friendly attitude toward oil and pipelines.

Even on that front there was critical movement Wednesday, as five major oilsands producers promised net-zero production by 2050, with help from both the Alberta and federal governments.

The NDP immediately challenged Kenney to match Leader Rachel Notley’s goal of a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 . She also says the whole province should be emission-free by 2050.

Soon enough, the UCP came out with comments like “socialist meddling.”

The NDP loves to goad the UCP into statements that seem hostile to environment and climate action. Works every time, and blurs the fact that the UCP is taking serious steps on several fronts.

The government needs to keep its environmental message straight and consistent, both for its own political future and the province’s image.

Are the UCP just piecemeal fans of net-zero when big money and jobs are at stake? Or do they really want the energy business — and the provincial economy itself — to transform into a dynamic new form?

It’s never quite clear, partly because of the UCP’s confusing and contradictory attitude toward Ottawa.

Kenney had nothing but praise Wednesday for the collaboration needed to put the hydrogen deal together. In return, he got hallelujahs from the key federal players, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, and Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Reagan.

Two days earlier, Kenney was trumpeting the provincial referendum to remove the equalization formula from Canada’s Constitution.

Equalization has not been kind to Alberta. You can still see the bitter slogans on cars and fence posts — “No pipelines? No equalization!” This program needs major reform.

But if Albertans vote to actually abolish equalization, Alberta would be the national villain just when the only hope for change is co-operation from other provinces.

Wednesday afternoon, the province formally announced the windup of its Keystone XL Partnership with TC Energy .

Of all the bad memories in recent energy disputes, this is the worst — President Joe Biden cancelling the whole project on his first day in office, after Kenney had risked more than $1.3 billion of Albertans’ money.

Rather than go through this dismal cycle again, it makes so much more sense to create products at home that the world wants to buy. May hydrogen prosper.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

dbraid@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DonBraid

Facebook: Don Braid Politics

Fuel of the future? 

What hydrogen can (and can't) do for Canada
Daniel Martins 

WEATHER NETWORK

JUNE 9,2021

It sounds too good to be true: hydrogen, the miraculous ‘fuel of the future,’ will power the zero-emission economy we’d need to stave off the worst of climate change. It could also unlock new industries worth billions of dollars.

By means of a chemical process involving hydrogen and water, the fuel is used to generate the electricity needed to run a wide range of vehicles, and the only real byproduct of the process is water — meaning hydrogen-fuelled vehicles could roam the roads spitting out nothing but molecules of H20.

It sounds satirical, like a spoof of what some 1950s futurist would scribble in their journal of half-baked sci-fi story pitches. But it’s very real, and governments are putting down very real money to make it a reality.

The U.S. and European Union both laid the groundwork for formal hydrogen strategies in the last year. At home, the federal government has its own strategy to capture a share of what it estimates will be an $11-trillion global market, with a made-in-Canada hydrogen industry that could be worth as much as $50 billion and employ 350,000 people by mid-century.

The private sector is increasingly showing signs of wanting in on that action. In the last few months, Thyssenkrupp announced plans for a production plant in Quebec, Ballard is set to produce hydrogen fuel cells for CPR locomotives, and, on a smaller scale, Toyota is partnering with Lyft to improve visibility of its hydrogen passenger vehicles in British Columbia.

WATCH BELOW: LYFT PARTNERS WITH TOYOTA TO PROVIDE HYDROGEN VEHICLES TO DRIVERS
Embedded content: https://players.brightcove.net/1942203455001/B1CSR9sVf_default/index.html?videoId=6231413831001

To harness some of that interest Edmonton launched the country’s first ‘hydrogen hub’ in April, with funding from all three levels of government, and partners with a range of interest groups, to kick-start the hydrogen industry in that province.

Canada’s oil and gas heartland might seem like an odd place for a clean fuel revolution, but the province’s experience actually improves the region’s chances of capitalizing on it, at least according to David Layzell, the research director of Transition Accelerator, one of the partners of the Edmonton hydrogen hub.

Video: As climate change intensifies, hydrogen gains more traction as alternative fuel (The Weather Network)
Embedded content: https://players.brightcove.net/1942203455001/B1CSR9sVf_default/index.html?videoId=6257822591001

“What we’re looking at is piggybacking on the hydrogen production that’s now used as an industrial feedstock, and diverting that and making that into an end-use fuel,” he said in an interview with The Weather Network.

Layzell says Alberta is well-placed to tap into the burgeoning alternative fuel market due to its experience with hydrogen, derived from natural gas, in cracking bitumen into synthetic crude oil. Alberta, he says, produces 5,000 of the 8,000 tonnes of hydrogen made in Canada daily, and beyond the province, some refineries use hydrogen to convert crude into petrochemicals.

NOT ALL HYDROGEN IS CREATED EQUAL

Though hydrogen is, famously, the simplest and most abundant element in the universe, it rarely occurs naturally on its own, and is instead combined with other elements. Pure hydrogen is derived from some kinds of fossil fuels, or by electrolysis of water. The difference lies in the source of the electricity used in the production process, and the industry uses colour-coded language to distinguish between the emissions levels of different energy inputs.

At the top of the pyramid is “green” hydrogen, produced using renewable energy, and as such has no CO2 emissions anywhere during the process (the renewable part of the hydrogen colour spectrum gets a bit more crowded when you factor in “pink” hydrogen, produced from nuclear, and “yellow” hydrogen, from solar).

The next-best option is “blue” hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels like natural gas but where the emissions are captured and sequestered during the process, while at the very bottom sits “grey” hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels but without CO2 sequestration.

Layzell says carbon capture of emissions from the hydrogen production process is completely feasible in Alberta and, in the long run, existing pipelines can even be reconfigured to transport liquid hydrogen domestically or for export.

“It’s not a matter of putting [oil and gas] companies out of business, it’s changing what they do, what they make, and how they do it,” he says.

WATCH BELOW: CANADIAN COMPANY CAPTURES CARBON DIOXIDE AND USES IT TO MAKE CONCRETE
Embedded content: https://players.brightcove.net/1942203455001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6184813184001

Though some automakers are experimenting with hydrogen passenger vehicles, Layzell says hydrogen isn’t really meant to compete with EVs in that realm. The real beneficiaries, Layzell says, would be heavier-duty vehicles, such as trains, ships, or freight trucks, that don’t get much downtime to refuel.

In other realms, battery-based electric and hydrogen will be suitable for different things — the former for heating systems and some industrial purposes, the latter for producing the electricity itself, as well as larger, more intensive industries such as steel-making.

“There’s an opportunity for a ‘hydricity system’ — hydrogen-electricity — to actually be more equitable around the world in terms of access to the energy that society needs,” Layzell says.

Layzell says the biggest challenge would be coordinating investment throughout the hydrogen process, from production to end-use, so that it scales up sustainably: in hubs like Edmonton, initially, then in ‘corridors,’ then a widespread network across the country, so that the new hydrogen infrastructure can endure once public money stops and private money steps up.

“Like any chain, it’s only as strong as its weakest link,” Layzell says. “So we need to focus both public and private investment at the critical parts along the value chain, so that each link in the chain is similarly strong, and we can have the strongest chain possible that meets societal needs economically and socially, providing the energy resources we need.”

BLUE HYDROGEN

How the feds see a big role for Big Oil in a hydrogen future

As some climate advocates push for hydrogen made from renewable energy, Natural Resources Canada is on the hunt for ways to include the oil and gas industry in the fuel’s future.

“Canada’s oil and gas sector is well-positioned to develop domestic hydrogen supply chains,” reads a meeting note Canada’s National Observer received through a federal access-to-information request. “In the short term, existing infrastructure and grey hydrogen production can kick-start Canada’s hydrogen economy.”

The note was prepared for Natural Resources deputy minister Jean-François Tremblay following a conference call March 10 between assistant deputy ministers Glenn Hargove, Mollie Johnson, Drew Leyburne, Frank Des Rosiers, and executive director of the ARC Energy Research Institute Peter Tertzakian. Tertzakian was not available for comment by deadline.

Hydrogen is increasingly seen as a fuel that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but experts realize any climate benefits are intrinsically tied to how the hydrogen is produced. The types of hydrogen produced are colour coded, with grey meaning produced from natural gas, blue meaning produced from natural gas with carbon capture technology used, and green meaning produced using renewable electricity. According to the Pembina Institute, more than 99 per cent of all hydrogen is grey, with blue and green together representing less than one per cent.

The note recognizes financing as a major obstacle for the oil and gas industry looking to break into hydrogen production, and reveals where Canada’s policy priorities might be.

“How would you address the debate over green versus blue hydrogen to persuade financial institutions to invest in blue hydrogen projects?” reads the note. “In your view, how can the government of Canada work with industry and the provinces to make headway on oil and gas sector diversification and competitiveness and reduce regulatory burden?” it also asks.

The note calls carbon capture “an essential part of Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy,” and says there are opportunities to deploy the technology in natural gas, upgrading, refining and petrochemical subsectors — depending on available financing — to curb emissions. Using carbon capture to convert natural gas to hydrogen would represent a new revenue stream for fossil fuel companies, the note says.

Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May says Canadians should be skeptical of climate solutions that don’t seek to phase out the oil and gas sector, calling carbon capture, nuclear power, and hydrogen — unless explicitly green — “scams” that keep a needed transition at bay.

“What we need to do is say out loud: We have to shut down the oilsands by 2030, let's plan for that. Let's make sure we have a plan for workers, let's make sure there's a plan for communities, let's make sure the Alberta economy benefits from all these other technologies that actually are green technologies,” she said.

“We cannot afford to blow it on hitting the Paris target, and that means we can't have fake, fraudulent, technology that continues to perpetuate fossil fuels,” she added.

Natural Resources Canada maintains the goal is to lower emissions and sees hydrogen as a key part of that.

“Our government released the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada in December 2020, outlining a path for Canada to capitalize on this opportunity to grow the economy and lower emissions,” said Ian Cameron, a spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan. “The goal of the strategy is to make Canada a top global producer of low-emission hydrogen.”

“I don't think we're categorically against blue hydrogen, but we don't want the carbon capture to involve enhanced oil recovery,” said NDP natural resources critic Richard Cannings, adding “that would be really extending the life of an industry we know that we have to move away from over the next 30 years.”

Cannings said aiming for green “is the way to go,” and that he is open to blue hydrogen production if it can be done without enhanced oil recovery, calling that “one step forward, two steps back.”

The same week assistant deputy minister for the Energy Technology Sector Glenn Hargrove and assistant deputy minister for the Strategic Petroleum Policy and Investments Office Drew Leyburne had a conference call with Tertzakian to discuss hydrogen supply chains, the two also hopped on a bi-weekly call with executives from Suncor, Cenovus, and Canadian Natural Resources Limited to discuss decarbonizing the sector.

According to a meeting note Canada’s National Observer received through a federal access-to-information request, the industry is looking for long-term policy predictability to feel more confident investing in technologies like carbon capture. The department admits in the note that some technology like post-combustion carbon capture has not been used in the oilsands, but expects to see multiple companies deploy the technology by 2030.

May says the government needs to ask of every piece of technology, “Does this get us off fossil fuels or not?”

“If it doesn't, then you don't do it, and you certainly don't spend public money on it, and you don't lie to Canadians and tell them you've embraced a clean economy agenda when embedded in it are fraudulent methods of keeping fossil fuels in use longer than they need to be,” she said.

The Pembina Institute says for hydrogen to help in the fight against climate change, it is best used in hard-to-decarbonize sectors that are already dominated by fossil fuels, like transportation or heavy industry.

John Woodside, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, National Observer

Airbus tells EU hydrogen won't be widely used in planes before 2050
By Tim Hepher and Laurence Frost  

© Reuters/FABIAN BIMMER FILE PHOTO: A general view in a new A320 production line at the Airbus plant in Hamburg

PARIS (Reuters) - Most airliners will rely on traditional jet engines until at least 2050, with the introduction of zero-emissions hydrogen limited to regional and short-range planes, Airbus told European Union officials in a briefing released on Thursday.

The planemaker has emerged as the industry's leading champion for hydrogen propulsion, saying it plans to develop the world's first zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035.

It has not publicly said whether the technology will be ready in time for the European industry's next major milestone - a replacement for the medium-haul A320 in the 2030s - but February's briefing to EU officials appeared to rule this out.

"Zero-emission hydrogen aircraft will be primarily focused on regional and shorter-range aircraft from 2035. Which means that current and future iterations of highly efficient gas turbines will still be required as we move towards 2050, especially for long-haul operations," the presentation said.

Slides from the presentation to the office of European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans were released by InfluenceMap, an investor-led climate lobbying watchdog which said it obtained them through a freedom of information request.

"It is not yet decided what market segment the first zero-emission aircraft will target," an Airbus spokesperson said on Thursday, declining further comment on the February meeting.

Although research remains at an early stage, possible paths to replacement of the A320 are already a major focus of debate as rival Boeing ponders how to shore up the competing 737 MAX and engine makers focus on evolving gas turbines.

Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun last week ruled out using hydrogen on a significant scale before 2050.

Hydrogen has also taken centre-stage in talks over European government support for aviation during the COVID-19 crisis.

In June last year, France announced an increase in funding for the CORAC aviation research body including 1.5 billion euros over three years for technology such as hydrogen, rescuing 500 out of 15,000 jobs threatened by an Airbus restructuring.

The finance ministry listed five key targets for the investment including a successor to the workhorse A320, which it said would use hydrogen instead of today’s gas turbines and enter service between 2033 and 2035.

2022 CONCEPT DECISION

Industry officials have played down the prospect of a switch to hydrogen for the A320 family's replacement because of the aircraft's size and range, and infrastructure needed globally. Airbus says an A320 takes off or lands every 1.6 seconds.

Airbus officials say the research will in any case seed disruptive technology likely to play a role in the next generation of airplanes.

As an interim step, Airbus and others have called for more widespread use of sustainable fuels in existing planes.

In February's presentation, Airbus displayed industry forecasts suggesting the A320's medium-haul category of 150-250 seats would be powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) first, and "potentially some hydrogen" from 2050.

A smaller niche between 100-150 seats, which includes its A220 and Embraer E2, would use electric power, hydrogen and/or SAF from 2040, while only regional 50-100 seaters would be ready for hydrogen in the 2030s.

Airbus currently serves that market through its 50-70-seat ATR turboprop co-venture with Italy's Leonardo.

In September last year, Airbus presented three concepts for a hydrogen plane to enter service in 2035 including a turboprop, a traditional-looking twin-engined plane powered by hybrid-hydrogen engines and a more radical blended-wing body aircraft.

Airbus has said it will choose the final product for a new decarbonised plane in 2025. The briefing said it would also narrow down the choice of broad concept as early as mid-2022.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Laurence Frost; Editing by Mark Potter)

#NOTOKYOOLYMPICS
Japan's Olympic sponsors hire consultants to assess potential brand damage-FT


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese corporate 2020 Olympic sponsors have hired consulting firms to advise them on whether to push ahead with Olympic-themed marketing plans or limit their association with an event that could damage their brands, the Financial Times reported.

 Reuters/Kim Kyung Hoon FILE PHOTO: Olympic rings reinstallation at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo

The consultants include Kantar Group from Britain and two Japan-based firms, Macromill Inc and Intage Holdings, the FT said, citing unidentified people.

More than 60 Japanese companies, such as Toyota Motor Corp and and beverage maker Asahi Holdings, have together paid more than $3 billion to sponsor the Tokyo Games.

Most Japanese want the games canceled or delayed again, amid concern that tens of thousands of foreign athletes and Olympic officials could bring new coronavirus variants and further pressure on an already stretched medical system.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff)

JAPANESE STATE-CAPITALI$M 

Probe concludes Toshiba, with government, sought to pressure shareholders at AGM

By Makiko Yamazaki  

 Reuters/Toru Hanai FILE PHOTO: Logo of Toshiba Corp is seen as Window cleaners work on the company's headquarters in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - An independent probe into Toshiba Corp's controversial annual shareholders' meeting last year concluded that the company, together with the government's industry ministry, effectively colluded to undermine shareholders' rights.

Activist investors including Effissimo Capital Management had successfully pushed for an investigation into whether the Japanese conglomerate applied pressure on shareholders over voting at the meeting.

"Toshiba, so to speak in unison with METI, devised a plan to prevent Effissimo from exercising its shareholder proposal right at the AGM," investigators said in the report which was released by Toshiba.

The controversy comes amid a push by Japan's government for improved corporate governance.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs)

Elizabeth Warren's proposal to cancel $50,000 in student debt would benefit low-income borrowers more, report finds

asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey) 

 Provided by Business Insider Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference about student debt outside the Capitol on February 4, 2021 in Washington, DC. Also pictured, L-R, Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Critics of student-debt cancellation argue it would benefit high earners the most.
The Roosevelt Institute found cancelling $50,000 in student debt would be progressive, not regressive.
It would also help close the racial wealth gap, given that more Black borrowers graduate with debt.
See more stories on Insider's business page.

Some Democrats' calls to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower has critics, with even President Joe Biden arguing it would benefit the high-earners more than the low earners. But a new study challenges that argument.

The left-leaning Roosevelt Institute released a report on Tuesday analyzing the "regressive cancellation myth" that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's plan to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person would be regressive because it helps a well-off group with a college educations. The think tank found that the Warren-Schumer plan is, in fact, progressive, given that wealthy people rarely use loans to pay for college. The plan would also be critical in addressing the racial wealth gap.

"Contrary to common misperceptions, careful analysis of household wealth data shows that student debt cancellation - at all proposed levels - is progressive; it would provide more benefits to those with fewer economic resources and could play a critical role in addressing the racial wealth gap and building the Black middle class," the report said.

The report highlighted five errors people make when saying debt cancellation is regressive:
Including private loans, when debt cancellation proposals have only concerned federal loans;
Only analyzing borrowers, rather than the entire population;
Focusing on distribution of debt by income rather than wealth;
Highlighting the value of debt to the government, rather than to the borrower;
And ignoring the racial distribution of wealth.

According to the report, 61% of students with incomes of $30,000 and under who began college in 2012 graduated with student debt, compared to the only 30% of students with incomes $200,000 and higher who left school with such debt.

The racial wealth gap is a large factor behind advocates pushing for debt cancellation. Last week, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Derrick Johnson, said in a statement that the student-loan debt crisis is "a key issue at the core of the racial wealth gap."

Insider also reported in April that 36 civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, were calling on Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person to close the racial and wealth disparities in the country that put borrowers "on the brink of financial devastation."

While many Democrats and advocates want Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person using his executive powers, he has noted his concerns with doing so multiple times, even citing the regressive argument on debt cancellation.

"The idea that you go to Penn and you're paying a total of 70,000 bucks a year and the public should pay for that? I don't agree," Biden said in an interview with The New York Times last month.

He used the same argument that people who go to Ivy league schools do not need student debt forgiveness at a CNN town hall in February, where he said student debt is not a "Harvard, Yale, and Penn" problem.

But Warren, Schumer, and other Democrats continue to argue against this notion. Warren told Insider on Tuesday that Biden can cancel $50,000 in student debt "with the stroke of a pen."

"The time is now," Warren said. "We know what the problem is: student loan debt is holding back tens of millions of people across this country. People who can't buy homes, people who can't buy cars, people who can't start small businesses. We need to cancel that student loan debt, not only for those people individually, but for our whole economy."
Read the original article on Business Insider

Canada's British Columbia grants indigenous request to defer old-growth logging

© Reuters/JENNIFER OSBORNE FILE PHOTO: Protesters stand on debris of a cutblock as RCMP officers arrest protesters in the Fairy Creek area of Vancouver Island

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada's British Columbia province agreed on Wednesday to a request from indigenous groups to defer logging of old-growth trees in the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island, where environmental activists blockading forestry roads are in a standoff with police.

The Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations formally requested a two-year deferral for old-growth harvesting in parts of their territories on Monday.

Activists have been blocking roads to stop private logging company Teal Jones from harvesting old-growth trees since last August, and there have been more than 180 arrests after police moved in to enforce an injunction last month.

The protest reignited a debate about protecting ancient forests in the province but also raised questions over whether environmentalists have a right to tell indigenous communities, many of which benefit economically from forestry, how to manage their resources.

"We have allowed as a province the titleholders to make decisions on their land," British Columbia Premier John Horgan told a news conference on Wednesday, announcing the deferral, which applies to about 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres).

Forestry contributes around 5% to B.C.'s economy and the Pacific Coast province is working on a strategy to modernize the industry and protect shrinking old-growth forests, which are trees aged at least 250 years old in the coastal region.

"These are monumental steps ... these announcements are transformative for an industry that has been foundational to British Columbia's success," Horgan added.

He said the government would consider old-growth logging deferral requests from other indigenous communities but that the process would take time.

Teal Jones said on Monday it would abide by the First Nations' request to defer logging.

Kathy Code, spokesperson for the Rainforest Flying Squad that organized the Fairy Creek protests, said Horgan's announcement was a step in the right direction but more action was needed to protect ancient forests.

"We intend to hold firm until we have old-growth forest defended across B.C. This is the last of our biodiversity," she said.

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Video: Police make B.C. logging protest arrests (The Canadian Press)

B.C. approves First Nations' request to defer old-growth logging for two years

VICTORIA — British Columbia has approved the request of three First Nations that want old-growth logging deferred for two years in part of their territories, including at the site of ongoing protests and arrests.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Premier John John Horgan said Wednesday the province has taken a transformative step in forestry and respecting the nations' land-management rights is part of its commitment to align policies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The move is also in keeping with the government's adoption last September of recommendations of an independent panel, starting with the deferral of nearly 200,000 hectares of old-growth forests.

"This is in everyone's interest," Horgan said. "It's in the interest of those majestic forests and the biodiversity that depends on it. It's in the interest of industry because they have certainty. And of course it's in the interest of communities because we're going to attach forests to communities, not to shareholders."

Hereditary and elected chiefs of the Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht First Nations on southwestern Vancouver Island issued a declaration Monday calling for old-growth logging to be temporarily deferred in Fairy Creek near Port Renfrew as well as the central Walbran area. The deferral in the two areas involves about 2,000 hectares of old-growth forest.

The chiefs said in a joint statement that they are humbled by the broad base of support they have received for the declaration from across B.C. and Canada.

It said they welcome the decision by the provincial government and will monitor forestry activities in the areas to ensure old-growth timber is not cut.

"While this essential work is being carried out, we expect everyone to allow forestry operations approved by our nations and the government of British Columbia in other parts of our territories to continue without interruption. Please respect that our citizens have a constitutionally protected right to benefit economically from our lands, waters, and resources."

A protest group dubbed the Rainforest Flying Squad said members will remain in the Fairy Creek area because large-scale logging could still occur in old-growth forest directly adjacent to Fairy Creek and in parts of the central Walbran not included in the deferral.

Saul Arbess, a member of the group, said in a statement that while the government's announcement is a positive step, "it falls short of the deferrals required to pause logging in all the critically endangered areas currently being defended, for generations to come."

The group is calling for the protection of about 4,600 hectares in both areas.

Horgan said he's hopeful that protesters at Fairy Creek will understand the process involving an industry that has long been the foundation of B.C.'s economy "is not one that can happen overnight."

The province will act as quickly as it can on deferral requests from other First Nations, Horgan said.

There's been a demand for change in the forestry sector since the 1970s but that will involve widespread consultations that include First Nations, he said.

"I think this is the way forward as to the Pacheedaht, Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht."

Adam Olsen, a Green party member of the legislature from Vancouver Island, said approving the deferral is only the first step in a long process.

"For decades, Indigenous people have watched natural resources trucked out of their territory to the economic benefit of industry and the provincial government," said Olsen, a member of the Tsartlip First Nation.

"The B.C. NDP government has a responsibility to provide the resources necessary, with no strings attached, to these Nations to develop this comprehensive integrated resource management plan," he said in a statement.

RCMP said Tuesday that 194 arrests have been made at Fairy Creek since police began enforcing a court injunction that would allow a logging firm to resume its work.

Teal-Jones said Monday that it would abide by the nations' declaration and would engage with them as they developed their forest management plans.

The impact on jobs from the current deferral is not expected to be significant because the three First Nations will continue harvesting in parts of their territory, Horgan said.

"I think we've done a pretty good job of making sure that the tenure holders understand the expectations from people who own the resources, that being the people of British Columbia, and also understanding that workers can continue to support their families wherever they live."

— By Camille Bains in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2021.

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