POLICY OPTIONS JUNE 2013 27 XXX Jatin Nathwani is a professor, holder of the Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy and executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, University of Waterloo, Ontario. Carbon-free electricity from Canada as a replacement for coal generation in the US would be a partial but ef- fective response to US Ambassador David Jacobson’s warning that Canada must demonstrate a commitment to GHG reductions if it hopes to see a positive decision from the Obama administration on Keystone. While the tighter regulations on emissions proposed by the federal government are a good step in their own right, they may not be sufficient to dampen the political potency of the opposition to the pipeline. In the search for policy so- lutions with a continental impact, the US and Canada should shift the discussion to what else Canada has to offer. That would mean more baskets on the table, with different- coloured eggs. R ejection of Keystone may turn out to be a sharp awaken- ing for the Canadian energy sector, a warning that it is imprudent to be paralyzed by an untenable view of energy futures that is confined to one pipeline, one type of com- modity (oil from the oil sands) and one outcome. It is time to change the channel, to broaden the discussion and in- volve Canada’s diverse energy resources. Increasing interregional electricity trade will simply build on what’s already there: a vast electricity system that links distant and diverse sources of generation. It would require adding transmission capacity and knitting it into a coherent interregional trade strategy that ampli- fies the benefits to both sides. Making the transition to a low-carbon economy over the next 30 to 50 years will be achieved only through a policy framework that removes the barriers to financing and approving the development of the necessary infrastructure. T he Keystone pipeline debate is sucking all the ox- ygen out of a legitimate North American discus- sion on energy. Notwithstanding the concern op- ponents of the pipeline are expressing, the real culprit in the emissions that are at the core of climate change is coal — and it is getting a free pass. The caricature of Canada’s oil sands as the carbon devil incarnate misses the fact that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from dominant coal generation in the US electricity mix wear the ugliest mask. Fortunately there is another route to energy security that will reduce GHGs on a continent-wide scale: dialling in Canada’s vast sources of clean electricity. Enhanced electric- ity trade built on Canada’s low-carbon electricity could push fossil fuels (primarily coal) out of the North American en- ergy system. Doing this would require a major expansion of the trade in electricity between the US and Canada. It would have to be buttressed by interconnections and transmission links acting as regional hubs between provinces and neigh- bouring states. As the primary instrument of public policy, trade — as opposed to regulations and emissions targets — is a more promising pathway to a lower-carbon energy future for North America. ENERGY BEYOND KEYSTONE: CANADA’S CLEAN ELECTRICITY JATIN NATHWANI It’s time to look to electricity exports as a route to a better energy strategy. Il est temps de comprendre que les exportations d’électricité peuvent tracer la voie à une meilleure stratégie énergétique.