Andrew Leach

Andrew Leach is a Canadian energy and environmental economist

Early career On completion of his Ph.D. at Queens University, Leach was appointed as an assistant professor at HEC Montreal, a post he held for three years. He moved to the University of Alberta in 2006.

Career

Leach is Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Alberta where he teaches courses in environmental and energy economics, environmental law and utilities law. In 2012–2013, on a leave from the University of Alberta as Visiting Scholar, Leach spent a year at Environment Canada working on "greenhouse gas policy for the oil and gas sector."

Leach was Chair of Alberta's Climate Change Leadership Panel in 2015.

Academic research His primary academic research interests include climate change policy, energy policy including oil sands regulation and innovations and policies related to clean energy.

In the mass media

Leach is a contributing writer for Maclean's and The Globe and Mail.

In a June 26, 2015 Edmonton Journal article, Leach was described as a "respected", "media-savvy" and "data-driven" energy and environmental economist—known for his "environmental pragmaticism"— whose understanding of the energy industry was greater than that of "many senior execs in the oilpatch." The article said that Leach "knows how much additional cost the industry can bear to curb emissions without rendering it uncompetitive." consisted of five articles by Leach in which he compared the climate plans proposed by federal parties running in the 2019 Canadian federal election—the Green Party, led by Elizabeth May, the Conservative Party, led by Andrew Scheer, the New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, the Liberal Party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with the final summary on October 10.

Calgary Energy Centre Leach reviews articles posted on line by the "pro-energy corporation", the Calgary-based Canadian Energy Centre, which is funded by the government of Alberta.

Personal life Leach is married and has two children. He is active on his energy and climate blog entitled "Rescuing the frog" and on Twitter.