Yukon, a factory for production of greenhouse gas emissions?

Yukon, a factory for production of greenhouse gas emissions?

Published 6:00 pm Sunday, September 20, 2026

Yukon, a factory for production of greenhouse gas emissions?

As reported in the Yukon News, August 28,2026, Strategic Metals has announced plans for a coal-fired power plant at Division Mountain located near Braeburn.

The coal deposit contains 50 million tonnes of measured resource, enough to supply an 100 megawatt facility for a century. The company’s CEO envisions a coal-fired electricity generation plant using emissions-capture technology as required by federal government regulations by 2030.

Reacting to the news, a senior researcher with the Canadian Climate Institute expressed doubt about the effectiveness of this technology. A spokesperson for the Yukon Conservation Society called the proposal “bonkers”, stating “It’s environmentally terrible. It’s never going to go ahead.”

Clearly there’s concern over the abundance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced from burning coal. Coal provides 25% of Saskatchewan’s electrical power, and 50% of Nova Scotia’s, but its use is steadily declining in Canada. Liquified natural gas (LNG) is the alternative fuel, as it creates half the emissions compared to coal.

Without the ability to produce enough electric power from renewable sources, and with the availability of nuclear power and the BC-Yukon grid connector in the distant future, the Yukon is becoming more defendant on LNG and diesel to meet our growing energy needs. The latest example is Yukon Energy’s plans for two LNG-fueled power stations to be constructed in Whitehorse.

These fuels are hauled from Outside by diesel-fuel tankers to destinations throughout the territory, resulting in an increase in highway traffic, and the production of GHG emissions in copious quantities. Yet little concern about rising levels of emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels has been expressed.

The same will be true with coal.

The decision making bodies have no concerns about increasing levels of GHG. All gave the green light to the Coffee Gold and Kudz Ze Kayah (KZK) projects without conditions to make the negative effects of GHG emissions less severe.

Both mines are located remote from Yukon’s electrical grid and will require excessive amounts of LNG and diesel to generate power for operations. Combined with trucks transporting fuels to the mine sites – in the case of Coffee Gold more than 2,000 km one way – will result in carbon emissions of epic proportions.

YG’s concern over growing GHG emissions, and the importance to reduce them is non-existent. During the first sitting of the legislative assembly, the new Yukon Party government introduced and passed a bill to repeal the Clean Energy Act.

As a result of repealing the act, YG is no longer committed to count another unit of emissions, and it won’t. The Our Clean Future strategy is laid to rest, leaving the path clear for the Yukon to experience a surge in growth of emissions.

An example of such growth is the Casino project. The Casino Mining Corporation prepared an Executive Summary (ES), dated September, 2025, which reveals the environmental and socio-economic effects for its proposed project.

With respect to GHG emissions, the ES states that amounts are projected to account for 0.15% of Canada’s 2030 forecast and 0.001% globally and could double the Yukon’s annual emissions during peak operation.

While this is significant locally, the project contribution to global climate change is considered negligible. For GHG emissions, it is understood that a single project contributes a negligible amount to global GHG emissions and thus climate change. On this basis, no significant determination is concluded for effects of Project GHG emissions.”

Without significant adverse effects, there’s no justification to introduce measures that reduce or mitigate GHG emissions.

Over the next several years, it is anticipated that several mines will start operations including Coffee Gold, KZK, Selkirk Copper, Banyan Gold, White River Gold, Sitka Gold, Casino.

If each of these mines adopt Casino’s logic that a single project has no significant adverse effect on climate change, then no strategies and technologies to mitigate their GHG emissions will be taken, or required to be taken. The resulting cumulative effect will be catastrophic consequences for Yukon’s environment.

—Art Webster, Whitehorse