Organized resistance to new fossil fuel infrastructure has become a formidable political force in North America in the 2010s. Climate activists, struggling for influence within the political process, have allied themselves with place-based interests, including indigenous groups, to block new coal plants, coal port expansion, and more recently oil sands pipelines. This talk examines the origins, evolution, and influence of this resistance movement with a focus on oil sands pipelines. It also examines the dilemma that, while empowering for the climate movement in the short term, this strategy of physical resistance may pose major obstacles to the transition to a clean energy system required to address the climate crisis.

George Hoberg is a professor at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia. He specializes in environmental and natural resource policy and governance. His research interests include environmental policy, energy policy, forest policy, and more generally the design of policies and institutions to promote sustainability. His current research focuses on the clean energy transformation. He is writing a book on the resistance to oil sands pipelines and the challenges and opportunities of the clean energy transformation.