Welcome to Cities 1.5 Hot Takes: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis. Hot Takes brings you fast, focused coverage on breaking news and underserved stories at the intersection of climate, economics and public health - all through an urban lens. 

This first-ever edition of Hot Takes is about a major move in Canada’s energy future…and what it means for climate, cities, and the promises made to hold fossil fuel giants accountable. As Canadian cities race toward net zero, their efforts are being fundamentally threatened by a high stakes federal agreement known as "The Grand Bargain": a political compromise on behalf of the Mark Carney government to build a new pipeline that would transport diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands westward across the rocky mountains to the British Columbia coast.

Touted as a bridge to a clean energy future, we go behind the spin to explore the  real facts behind this project - and lay bare the reasons many are opposed to this doubling down on promises made by the fossil fuel industry…promises that historically haven’t been worth the paper they’re written on.

Featured guests:

Hon. Catherine McKenna, Chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities, and former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Links:

World Mayors Summit two-part special - Cities 1.5 podcast

83 Countries Join Call to End Fossil Fuels at COP30 - Earth.org 

Why Mark Carney’s pipeline deal with Alberta puts the Canadian federation in jeopardy - The Conversation

A Not-so-Grand Bargain - Pembina Institute

Canada may approve a new oil pipeline. First Nations fear another ‘worst-case scenario’ - The Guardian

Watch David’s full CPAC interview

Canada OKs ‘Massive’ $20 Billion Loan for Trans-Mountain Pipeline - DeSmog

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Listen to the Cities 1.5 five-part miniseries “Going Steady with Herman Daly: How to Unbreak the Economy (and the Planet)" here: https://lnk.to/HDMiniSeries

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Comms support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/