"Mark Carney Claims Fossil Fuel Expansion Is ‘Canada Strong,’ but U.S. Investors Get the Profits" Credit DeSmog

 

New data show American capital now controls most of Canada’s oil and gas sector while jobs vanish, royalties lag, and billions flow south.

By Mitch Anderson

onDec 16, 2025 @ 12:11 PST

Series: Carney's Climate Betrayal

 

"Out of the “Big Four” oil sands giants, 73 percent are foreign-owned and 60 percent U.S.-owned, leaving Canadian investors control over just 27 percent." Credit: DeSmog

"Prime Minister Mark Carney has been playing up protecting Canada’s energy sovereignty by expanding fossil fuel extraction. But who owns the oil patch?

The reality is that U.S. capital controls the majority of oil and gas companies operating in Canada and that American ownership of the Canadian oil resources is increasing. Recent reporting from Oilprice.com shows that U.S. equity owns 59 percent of Canadian fossil fuel companies, up from 56 percent in 2024. Over the same period, Canadian ownership declined from 37 percent to 34 percent. Is this what Canada Strong looks like?

The situation is even more stark for the four largest Canadian bitumen producers, according to a recent report from the nonprofit group Canadians for Tax Fairness. Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil, and Suncor Energy are 73 percent foreign-owned, and 60 percent U.S.-owned, the report shows. Canadian investors control only 27 percent of these “Big Four” sands giants.

These companies raked in $131.6 billion in profits between 2021 and 2024 and paid out almost $80 billion of this windfall to foreign shareholder buyback and dividends. This is considerably more than the $60 billion paid over the same period to the Albertan owners of the resource through provincial bitumen royalties. Since the majority of shareholders are outside Alberta, $49.3 billion of buyback and dividend revenue ended up in the pockets of U.S. investors." Credit: DeSmog

 

"Labour Group Slams Lord Glasman Over Climate Denial Lecture" DeSmog

 "An influential Labour peer has been criticised for being the star speaker at the UK’s main climate science denial group, which says carbon emissions are a “benefit to the planet”.

Lord Maurice Glasman, founder of the conservative ‘Blue Labour’ faction of the Labour Party, delivered the Global Warming Policy Foundation’s (GWPF) annual lecture on Monday, a speech typically given by conservative figures and climate science deniers.

Glasman has in recent weeks advised Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

In his GWPF lecture, Glasman reportedly called for the national grid, the UK’s electricity distribution network, to be taken over by the Ministry of Defence, called the UK’s 2050 net zero emissions target a “fantasy”, and advocated new fossil fuel extraction including coal power.

“It is important to remember that the UK is not America,” Paul McNamee, director of the Labour Climate and Environment Forum (LCEF), told DeSmog.

“The Labour government continues to benefit from majority support for ambitious climate action. British people know that this ambition brings energy security, lower bills, a future for their grand-kids, and investment into some of the fastest growing areas of the UK economy.”

McNamee added: “Lord Glasman would know this if he spent less time at Trump inaugurations and with right-wing campaign groups, and more time in the British communities he claims to speak on behalf of.”" DeSmog

Amid Brutal Heat Wave, Officials Stress Health Risks of Hot Nights

  

Excerpt : "Much of the United States is baking amid an unusually severe June heat wave, with more than 150 million people under some sort of heat advisory. The unrelenting heat wave started in the Mountain West over the weekend and has since descended upon the Midwestern and Eastern U.S., where high humidity is making temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit feel even hotter. 

Even at night, people can’t escape the unforgiving heat, which poses a particularly high health risk. 

The level and duration of the heat is rare for this time of year “with little to no overnight relief, and affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the National Weather Service said in an advisory Monday morning.

During a heat wave, it is crucial for people to cool down at night to reduce their core body temperature and reduce the physiological burden put on them during long, sizzling days. But a growing body of research shows that hot nights are becoming more common with climate change—and not just during a heat wave. "  By Kiley Price, June 24, 2025   From Inside Climate News

Flood in Oman due to severe rains. Flooding in Arabian Peninsula ...

 

 

YouTube

"Both Oman and the UAE, which hosted last year's COP28 UN climate talks, have previously warned that global warming is likely to lead to more flooding.

Friederike Otto, a leader in the field of assessing the role of climate change on specific extreme weather events, said it was likely that global warming played a part in this week's rain.

"It is highly likely that the deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change," said Ms Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London." ABC

Carbon credit whistleblower says system still 'failing': RN Breakfast

 

 

 

Andrew Macintosh(ABC News: Alex McDonald)

 
"The academic who blew the whistle on Australia's carbon credit scheme - sparking an independent review - has released new research  showing "damning results". Professor Andrew Macintosh says the research confirms the scheme isn't removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Human-induced regeneration counts for almost a third of all carbon credit projects but Professor Macintosh says it's "failing", despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in credits."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/insider-blows-whistle-on-greenhouse-gas-reduction-schemes/100933186

Wood Pellet Giant Drax Targets California Forests: Excerpt

 "Plans for two industrial pellet plants would increase carbon emissions and hurt the health of rural communities, campaigners warn.

By Phoebe Cooke

onMar 4, 2024 @ 10:56 PST

Series: Drax: The UK’s ‘Carbon Neutral’ Biomass Power Plant

The wood pellets Drax produces are treated as “carbon neutral” under international accounting rules, based on an assumption that new-growth trees will capture the carbon lost by wood burnt for electricity. But scientists and campaigners have long disputed these claims. 

A 2021 study from the European Academies Science Advisory Council concluded that burning wood for energy “is not effective in mitigating climate change and may even increase the risk of dangerous climate change.” A power station operated by Drax in the UK generates 8 percent of the UK’s “renewable” electricity, but is also the single largest emitter of carbon dioxide.

Golden State Natural Resources claims its forest management techniques reduce the risk of wildfires — a claim which has also been disputed by campaigners — and that it maintains “stringent guardrails” to ensure the sourcing of materials for pellets is sustainable. Drax also says its pellets are made from “sustainable biomass” generated from low-grade roundwood, sawmill residues, and forest residues — although several investigations have found instances of the company using primary forest materials.

 https://www.desmog.com/2024/03/04/wood-pellet-giant-drax-targets-california-forests/

Michael Mann Wins $1 Million Verdict In Defamation Trial

 "Michael Mann Wins $1 Million Verdict In Defamation Trial

Victory over climate deniers sends a strong message in defense of climate science and scientists.

By Diane Bernard and Adam M. Lowenstein

onFeb 8, 2024 @ 14:04 PST

Professor Michael E. Mann's lawyer called attacks on the scientist "vile." Credit: Julian Meehan/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

"In a victory for climate scientists, jurors in Michael Mann’s defamation case against Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn awarded Mann $1 million in punitive damages for defamatory comments made in 2012.

In a unanimous decision, jurors agreed that both Simberg and Steyn defamed Mann in blog posts that compared Mann to convicted sex offender Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Penn State University. They announced that Simberg will pay $1,000 in punitive damages and Steyn will pay the larger $1 million.

Standing in front of the courthouse smiling with his legal team after the verdict was read, Mann told DeSmog that he trusted the jury to see through the “smoke and mirrors” that the defense used during the trial.

“One million dollars in punitive damages makes a statement,” he said in an exclusive interview. “This is about the defense of science against scurrilous attacks, and dishonest efforts to undermine scientists who are just trying to do our job.”

Mann also noted that the trial was about defamatory statements made in an effort to discredit scientists “whose findings might prove inconvenient to certain ideologically driven individuals and outlets.”

“It’s about the integrity of the science and making sure that bad actors aren’t allowed to make false and defamatory statements about scientists in their effort to advance an agenda,” he added.

Peter Fontaine, one of Mann’s lawyers, told DeSmog he was “thrilled with the outcome.”"

https://www.desmog.com/2024/02/08/michael-mann-wins-defamation-trial-climate-deniers-rand-simberg-mark-steyn/