Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette on Thursday said the government would consider approving oil and gas pipelines that the province had previously opposed. Meanwhile, Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz has been meeting with businesses and public officials in Tokyo about deepening the province’s energy trade with Japan. (Bloomberg, Reuters)

Talking point: The Quebec minister’s comments in particular speak to a broader shift in attitudes toward the fossil fuel sector, as fresh concerns over economic resilience and energy security in Canada have begun to outweigh climate considerations. The Energy East oil pipeline and GNL Quebec, a proposed liquefied natural gas export facility north of Quebec City, were both shelved following intense environmental resistance in the province. Japan, for its part, has long sought to secure fossil fuel supplies from Alberta, and has proposed major public subsidies to encourage the development of such energy projects, as The Logic first reported. An inability to build pipelines has severely restricted the energy sector’s access to new markets, exposing it  to Trump’s trade threats.