The two weeks of hearings of the Energy Committee have ended at the National Assembly. The members present heard a variety of points of view, particularly concerning the role of Hydro-Québec, rates and future production. In the background, almost all note that Quebec no longer has enough energy to match its ambitions.
There was, however, a major absence in the discussion. The feat was achieved by ignoring certain energy sources that are considered strategic everywhere else in North America. For example, the hypothesis of exploiting our natural gas was never addressed.
This seems self-evident. Since the Legault government passed a law to ban all exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, it seems normal that we no longer talk about it. But this was passed at a time when we were living in the illusion of electricity surpluses.
Today, we are so limited in energy that we have to say no to some projects submitted by our companies. Northvolt is postponing its construction by a year and other companies are fighting in the public square to get their hands on the block of electricity that was reserved for it.
Blindly
Our elected members of the National Assembly are so stubbornly locked in their own world that they do not even want to take the risk of hearing about natural gas exploitation. Imagine that the Quebec Energy Association filed a brief highlighting the extent of the natural gas reserves that Quebec is sitting on. I read it.
They state that the responsible exploitation of such resources should be part of the range of actions to be undertaken to ensure Quebec’s energy security. The Association submitted a written brief, but was not even invited to come and explain it to parliamentarians. We are practicing mental abstraction.
This stubborn and irrational refusal to open the door to natural gas is, it is said, the reflection of a beautiful social consensus established in Quebec. We are greener, we reject all forms of hydrocarbons, even natural gas which, elsewhere, is considered an acceptable compromise in terms of climate change.
Yet Kamala…
It’s funny how nearly all of the guardians of the anti-exploitation orthodoxy of our resources are also in love with Kamala Harris. At the debate in early September, Ms. Harris addressed Americans solemnly to assure them that she would never put the brakes on shale gas exploitation.
There are now more than a million shale gas wells in the United States. The Democratic presidential candidate is not a climate change denier. Nevertheless, she is including shale gas in her energy policy.
She is following in the footsteps of her Democratic predecessor, President Obama, who praised the exploitation of shale gas and oil under his leadership. He still prides himself on having ensured the energy independence of the United States through his policies.
If the Quebec Prime Minister imitated Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, he would be crucified in public… by admirers of Obama and Harris. Our Quebec is not easy.
