FIRST NET-ZERO LAWSUIT IN QUEBEC

   In what is shaping up as the first major legal confrontation over government plans to shut down fossil fuel industries in Canada, Montreal-based Utica Resources this week filed a 114-page suit against the Quebec government demanding $18-billion in compensation.
   Utica is one of several companies that invested tens of millions of dollars exploring for gas in the province. The discovery of massive shale gas resources offered industry and the province an opportunity to place Quebec among the top natural gas producers in the world.
   That promising future was quashed last year, however, when Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s nationalist government pushed through legislation — Bill 21 — described as an act “to end petroleum exploration and production.” The act, the most brazen net-zero carbon prohibition in the world, was approved by the provincial legislature in April, much to the delight of green activists.
   But now the fossil fuel companies who discovered the gas reserves are striking back. Utica is the first to put a dollar value on the compensation it is seeking: $18-billion. Other companies will also be filing suits for billions more, potentially setting the province up for massive cash liabilities as a result of its carbon-neutrality policies.