A potential U.S. trade war has breathed some life into the fraught idea of shipping oil through Hudson Bay
A potential U.S. trade war has breathed some life into the fraught idea of shipping oil through Hudson Bay
A sudden, rash move by the mercurial administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, in terms of oil tariffs or the Enbridge pipeline, would be a serious source of financial concern, even for Canadians who are eager to see the country wean itself off oil production as a revenue source and hasten the transition to a clean-energy economy.
This has Canada suddenly considering its short and long-term export and transport options for an industry that will still be around for a few more decades.
That includes breathing some life into an idea that sounded fanciful mere months ago: Transporting oil across the northern Manitoba muskeg and filling tankers at a port on Hudson Bay.
Eww. I don't mean Eww because of shipping through the Hudson Bay. I mean, Eww because oil is the driver behind it.
Please let's just stop building ways to get oil to market, and start building refineries that do value-add here in Canada. Make the aviation fuel and plastics and whatever else cannot be replaced with green energy. Reduce the export of crude and help wean the world off of the worst stuff by choking supply.
Bonus photo I took of the Hudson Bay railroad bridge in The Pas, MB, from a few weeks ago.
