Green leader hails solar panels as ‘Jesus’ Work’ but sidesteps forced labour and toxic waste concerns
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s endorsement of solar panels as a divine mission ignores the ethical and environmental issues of Uyghur forced labour and toxic waste, highlighting a sheltered perspective.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May declared solar panels a reflection of Jesus Christ’s teachings, in a strange example of faith meeting environmentalism.
Delivering her first Member’s Statement to the 45th Parliament via videoconference, May celebrated the blessing of solar panels at her parish, St. Andrew Anglican Church in Sidney, B.C., describing it as part of her mission to “follow the path of Jesus Christ in my work.”
“It is an honour to present my first Member’s Statement in this new Parliament,” May said, as first reported by Blacklock’s.
Noting how she was unable to attend the parliamentary session in person due to an unspecified event, May recounted how Bishop Anna Greenwood-Lee ascended in a cherry picker to bless the church’s new solar panels, a ceremony accompanied by a special liturgy. The church, the first of 46 in its diocese to install solar panels, expects to save approximately $3,000 annually, partly thanks to BC Hydro rebates.
The Anglican Church of Canada has long prioritized “environmental, social, and governance factors” in its investments. A 2018 guide, Investing With A Mission, called climate change “an urgent ethical issue” demanding immediate action. Yet, this largely ignores the solar industry’s unethical underbelly.
In 2021, the Commons unanimously condemned China’s use of Uyghur slave labour in producing polysilicon, a key solar panel component.
China produces over 90% of the world’s polysilicon, with 45% sourced from Xinjiang, where forced labour in factories is pervasive.
Testimony from Uyghur émigrés, including Mehliya Cetinkaya of the Alberta Uyghur Association, highlighted this crisis at a September 2023 Commons trade committee meeting. “Green technology is directly upholding forced labour systems,” Cetinkaya warned, urging Canada to confront the “human rights crisis” infiltrating its borders.
Further complicating May’s ethical claims, a 2024 Department of Public Works notice flagged solar panels as a “significant pollution risk” due to toxic chemicals like aluminum, tellurium, and antimony. With recycling hindered by high costs and complex panel designs, many end up in landfills, where hazardous materials can leach into groundwater.
As the volume of discarded panels grows, so do these environmental and human rights concerns.
May’s seemingly sincere portrayal of solar panels as a divine mission may seem good-intentioned, but she fails to acknowledge the broader ethical and environmental complexities that persist beyond her bubble-wrapped worldview.


COMMENTS
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Crude Sausage commented 2025-06-17 11:24:26 -0400You would think that repulsive people would think that it’s enough for them to be that way. Why do they insist on also being stupid?
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Robin Dutton commented 2025-06-17 10:56:05 -0400Again climate fervor takes on a religious undertone. Blasphemy and heresy to nay say any of the environmental concerns.
All is not lost, climate sins can be redeemed in the form of carbon taxes and credits. A form of tithing if you will.