The task of responding to climate change is herculean, almost impossible — and far better than the alternative, said senators presenting an inaugural report on a low-carbon energy transition Tuesday.

The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) is studying the depth of the Canadian economy’s reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources as the Liberal government begins in baby steps an effort to reduce those emissions.

The picture they paint is bleak, almost pessimistic — but abandoning or amending emission reduction targets made during the Paris negotiations on climate change in 2015 is not an option, said Senator Paul Massicotte, the committee’s deputy chair, at the release of the first of five reports by the committee.

“I don’t like the change, I hate it, it’s disruptive,” said Massicotte. “But it’s going to be a lot, lot worse for my kids and grandkids if we do nothing.”

A speech last week by Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada Timothy Lane underlined the estimated cost of climate change without action. Canada would see annual costs of between $21 billion and $43 billion by the 2050s, according to Lane.

“So what do I do?” said Massicotte. “Do I act selfishly and say I don’t want to act on climate change because it inconveniences me? Or do I try to be logical a little bit and say, ‘The impact is going to be immense, it’s been scientifically proven, it’s got no doubt, sorry guys, we’ve got to move and we’ve got to change our behaviour’?”

The senators are not yet offering solutions on navigating the narrow path between reducing emissions and the political backlash; those are coming in the study’s final report later this year.

The options the senators hinted at on Tuesday suggest dramatic social and cultural change.

“Meeting Canada’s greenhouse gas reduction targets will change the way Canadians live and work,” said Senator Dennis Patterson of Nunavut. “Some of the habits we’ve become accustomed to, such as driving to work, the gym and grocery store, might have to give way to taking public transit.

“Employers might need to embrace work-from-home programs in a bid to keep their workers off the roads. Our concept of the nine-to-five workday might need to change in order to better spread out the demand for electricity.”

The federal Liberals have committed Canada to a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emission reductions from 2005 levels by 2030, or 219 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a target Patterson said “seems almost impossible to achieve.”

“We believe this is a very big job in a very short time period. It’s only 13 years away,” he said. “In fact, our report describes the job as herculean.”

In New Brunswick, experts told the committee they’re predicting a 39 per cent increase in electricity rates if its coal plant has to shut down before it reaches its full life expectancy. However, Massicotte said there was no consensus among experts on the total costs of climate change action.

Meanwhile, concerns over the costs of carbon price are never far from discussion in the House of Commons. MPs are poised to vote Tuesday on an opposition day motion from the Conservative Party alleging the Liberals aren’t revealing the full cost of carbon taxes.

Tuesday’s interim report by the committee looks at the electricity sector, which was only responsible for 11 per cent of Canada’s emissions in 2014, or 78 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Within the sector, 72 per cent of emissions come from coal power plants, 22 per cent from natural gas plants and six per cent from refined petroleum.

Alberta is by far the epicentre of greenhouse gas-emitting electrical power, responsible for just under 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2014. Saskatchewan emits the second-most emissions, at around 16 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario nearly taking up the rest.

The electricity sector reduced emissions by 40 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2005 and 2014, the report says. Ottawa projects that with current policies, emissions will go down by another 34 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, or 56 per cent from 2014 levels.

That reduction will mostly come from the phase-out of coal power in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.