CALGARY — Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault believes the United States could outperform Canada on climate action by the end of the year despite President Donald Trump's policies.Appearing on a recent episode of the Montreal Gazette's Corner Booth podcast, Guilbeault argued global market forces are accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels and said he expects upcoming international climate assessments will show the US is making greater progress on emissions reductions than Canada."It is interesting and it will become somewhat tragic, but by the end of the year, we will have analysis of where Canada is in terms of its fight against climate change and other nations around the world, including the United States," Guilbeault said.."I anticipate that the US will rank better than Canada, despite Donald Trump."Guilbeault stressed that while he does not believe Trump is stronger on climate policy than Prime Minister Mark Carney, economic forces are driving the transition away from traditional fossil fuels regardless of political leadership.He pointed to Texas as an example, noting that despite being a traditionally conservative state, it has become one of the largest producers of wind and solar power in the US."Trump is not a fan of that, but there's not much he can do about it," Guilbeault said..GOOD RIDDANCE: Guilbeault resigns, announces decision to leave politics."We're seeing whole power plants being closed one after the other and replaced by not just renewable energy, but also a fair bit of gas-produced electricity that's coming online."Guilbeault also argued that global investment trends increasingly favour renewable energy over fossil fuel development."Ten years ago, for one dollar invested in increasing fossil fuel production, it was one dollar invested in clean technologies," he said."Today, it's two for one in favour of renewables. The world is moving away from fossil fuels very rapidly."Guilbeault also reflected on how public attitudes toward climate issues has changed over the course of his career as both activist and politician.."When I started talking about climate change, people called me a watermelon," he said."I was green on the outside, red on the inside. I was a communist disguised as an environmentalist. Even my conservative opponents don't say I'm a communist anymore. I mean, they accuse me of a whole range of different things, but really not being a communist."His comments come as debate continues over Canada's energy future under Prime Minister Mark Carney's government, which has recently signalled support for major resource and infrastructure projects while maintaining commitments to emissions reductions.In May, Guilbeault announced he would resign from the Liberal caucus and leave federal politics, citing disagreements over the government's energy and infrastructure agenda.However, Guilbeault's assessment of a rapidly accelerating transition away from fossil fuels stands in contrast to recent forecasts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which continues to project strong long-term growth in global oil demand.In its 2026 World Oil Outlook released last week, OPEC said global oil demand is expected to rise from 105.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2025 to 113.3 million bpd by 2030.The organization further projects demand will reach 124 million bpd by 2050 and reiterated its view that there is no peak in global oil demand on the horizon.OPEC attributed the outlook to continued economic growth, population increases and policies in many regions that continue to support oil production and consumption.
