While most G7 leaders renewed their countries' commitment to fighting climate change this weekend, there are increasing signs of political defections from the low-carbon strategy.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repudiated the Paris Accord, skipped out of the two-day meeting in Quebec early, before the other six leaders started talking climate.
Ontario is now officially "open for business" under the leadership of newly-elected Progressive Conservative premier-designate Doug Ford, who campaigned against the province's cap-and-trade program and in favour of a 10-cent cut in the price of gasoline.
Concurred Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney "The Ontario PCs are strongly committed to fighting Justin Trudeau's federal carbon tax, and joining a future Alberta government in defending Canada's resource industries."
But at the same time, one of Canada's most celebrated business leaders was sounding a very different note.
Sergio Marchionne, who successfully merged Chrysler with Italian auto behemoth Fiat, announced his company was launching a multi-billion-dollar plan to catch up with its competitors, introducing a fleet of 30 hybrid and fully electric cars to join its Fiat 500e.
Environmentalism is only part of Fiat-Chrysler's (NYSE: FCAU) motivation: The company says high-efficiency electric powertrains will keep fuel costs down, keeping buyers happy.
Moreover, Ontario's Del Mastro family, owners of the Deltro Group, are both big investors in the alternative power sector and well-connected among conservatives.
New research published last week in the journal Nature Climate Change indicates that even if political leaders backed off their commitment to stop climate change, business will do the job on its own.
The search for financial efficiency and the steady progress of technology means that the world is going to use a lot less coal, oil and gas, the researchers say, shaking up global energy investment.
The global use of technology such as hybrid and battery vehicles, solar power and wind power remains small. But just as consumers have seen by calculating the mathematical curve for the adoption of previous innovations, such as the automobile or the cellphone, it is possible to project a long-term trend.
Even without running the statistics, observers can see the same story in Marchionne's race to catch up with GM (NYSE: GM), Toyota (NYSE: TM), Renault-Nissan (OTC: NSANY), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and all the other car makers expanding their electric fleets.
