Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed an agreement with Alberta\u2019s premier that will roll back certain climate rules to spur investment in energy production, while encouraging construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, which was signed on Thursday, the federal government will scrap a planned emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and drop rules on clean electricity in exchange for a commitment by Canada\u2019s top oil-producing province to strengthen industrial carbon pricing and support a carbon capture-and-storage project.<\/p>\n
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The deal, which was hailed by the country\u2019s oil industry but panned by environmentalists, signaled a shift in Canada\u2019s energy policy in favour of fossil fuel development and is already creating tensions within Carney\u2019s minority government.<\/p>\n
Steven Guilbeault, who served as environment minister under Carney\u2019s predecessor Justin Trudeau, said he was\u00a0quitting the cabinet\u00a0over concerns that Canada\u2019s climate plan was being dismantled.<\/p>\n
Carney is counting on the energy sector to help the Canadian economy weather uncertainty from United States President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs, and is seeking to diversify from the US market, which currently takes 90 percent of Canada\u2019s oil exports.<\/p>\n
In remarks at an industry event in Calgary, Carney said US tariffs and the resulting uncertainty will wipe $50bn from Canada\u2019s economy, the equivalent of $1,300 for every Canadian, stressing the need to build projects that can spur growth and reduce US reliance.<\/p>\n
He has relaxed some environmental restrictions implemented by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, while reaffirming his commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n
New markets<\/p>\n
Alberta is also exploring the feasibility of a new crude oil pipeline to British Columbia\u2019s northwest coast in order to increase exports to Asia, but no private-sector company has committed to building a new pipeline.<\/p>\n
Pipeline companies and the Alberta government have repeatedly said significant federal\u00a0legislative changes\u00a0\u2013 including removing a federal cap on oil and gas sector emissions and ending a ban on oil tankers off British Columbia\u2019s northern coast \u2013 would be required before a private entity would consider proposing a new pipeline.<\/p>\n
The Canadian government will enable a clear and efficient approval process for a new pipeline to be constructed and financed by the private sector, Carney said.<\/p>\n
He added that the new pipeline would transport one million barrels of low-emission Alberta bitumen a day, with a route that increases access to new Asian markets as a priority.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s agreement includes a commitment by the federal government to adjust the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act in order to facilitate oil exports to Asia.<\/p>\n
British Columbia Premier David Eby, who opposes a new pipeline through his province, said on Wednesday the legislation should stay in place.<\/p>\n
Other pipeline opponents are also speaking out. A coalition of Indigenous groups in British Columbia said this week it will not allow oil tankers on the northwest coast and that the pipeline project will \u201cnever happen\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast, which is owned by the Canadian government and is currently the only option to ship Canadian oil directly to Asian markets, tripled its capacity last year with a 34 billion Canadian dollar ($24.2bn) expansion.<\/p>\n
Climate concerns<\/p>\n
Environmentalists raised concerns about the agreement\u2019s implications for climate change, while oil producers supported the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this agreement, the federal government risks doing significant damage to minimum national standards that will have broader impacts on Canada\u2019s climate change efforts,\u201d the Pembina Institute, a clean energy think tank, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Industry leaders said the partnership between the province and the federal government would boost the energy sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe elimination of the emissions cap, changes to the Competition Act, and the commitment to work together on new market access are all significant steps towards unlocking Canada\u2019s vast natural energy resources,\u201d the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The federal government and Alberta also said they would conclude an agreement on industrial carbon pricing by April 1 next year.<\/p>\n
In addition, the two agreed to cooperate on building the Pathways Plus project, expected to be the world\u2019s biggest carbon capture project and designed to capture emissions from Canada\u2019s tar sands.<\/p>\n
The federal government will also assist Alberta in building and operating nuclear power plants, strengthening its electricity grid to power AI data centres, and building transmission lines to neighbouring provinces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney has signed an agreement with Alberta\u2019s premier that will roll back certain climate…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":409476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[438,2147,79,746,167290,13790,50,3345,80,8304,72,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-409475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-business-and-economy","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-indigenous-rights","13":"tag-international-trade","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-oil-and-gas","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-trade-war","18":"tag-us-canada","19":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115624496621150435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}