This Op-Ed first appeared in the Western Standard 

Net Zero emissions by 2050. Have you heard this line? It is increasingly hard to miss. Every trendy business, bank, corporation and government boasts about their commitment to it. But what exactly do they mean by it?

In short, Net Zero by 2050 means our country either emits no greenhouse gases or offsets whatever it does emit through measures such as buying carbon credits or investing in carbon capture technology.

Net Zero has been a central project of groups such as the World Economic Forum, the United Nations and other globalist institutions. They’ve spent the past several years pressuring governments around the world to commit to Net Zero and to make those commitments legally binding, so it will be difficult for elected officials to roll them back in the future.

That’s what’s happening here in Canada. This has been a major priority for Justin Trudeau. The Liberals have spent years championing the push to Net Zero, mandating it by law in 2021.

But law or not, Net Zero isn’t actually going to happen.

It is a ludicrous goal, in part because achieving it would be unimaginably expensive. So expensive, in fact, governments the world over don’t even attempt to estimate the total cost. Whenever they’re asked, they just say “the cost of doing nothing will be higher.” But if they don’t know how expensive their own plan is, how on earth could they know that it would be cheaper than not doing it?

External estimates place the cost for Canada alone somewhere in the neighborhood of $2 trillion. That number is so staggering it is impossible to fully comprehend it. It is more than our nation’s entire Gross Domestic Product! Look at it this way — that is the equivalent of spending $1 a second for 63,417 YEARS.

But the fact Net Zero will ultimately fail doesn’t mean attempting it isn’t going to negatively affect your daily life. It will.

Under the umbrella of Net Zero you’ll find,

• Carbon taxes
• Clean Fuel Standards
• Just Transition
• Emissions caps
• Cancelled pipelines
• Electrification strategies
• Gas and diesel car bans
• Electric vehicle subsidies
• Costly building codes
• Curtailed food production

The list goes on and on.

But beyond the economic impact and the personal hardship, we must remember the end game of this Green Agenda isn’t really about reducing carbon emissions. No, it is much more insidious than that.

At the heart of this Net Zero movement is a desire to fundamentally change our economy and way of life. They are looking for a complete transition from the economy that has made Canada the great nation that it is.

“You will own nothing and be happy.” Remember those words attributed to Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum (WEF)? Well take those words to heart, because he means it.

The implications of Net Zero are broad and overreaching. And they will have the effect of fundamentally affecting our quality of life.

It will make energy more expensive. It will raise the cost of everything. It will make us less competitive in the global economy, especially against countries such as China because, you will not be surprised to learn, China has not signed on to this suicide pact. (But they are keen for other countries to stifle their economy in pursuit of this absurd goal, not least because they produce 70% of the world’s solar panels.)

Net Zero regulations, policies and mandates are a direct assault on affordable energy, and an affordable way of life. That is the goal of the Green agenda, and if they have their way, Canada, its standard of living and its way of life will suffer.

Net Zero is a scam.

Dan McTeague is President of Canadians for Affordable Energy