The Canadian province of Alberta, home to the country’s controversial oil sands, said on Sunday it will implement an economy-wide tax on carbon emissions in 2017, addressing long-standing criticism it is not doing enough to combat climate change.
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Mr. Edwards even talked about the plan positioning major global energy player Alberta as “climate leader” and “allowing for ongoing innovation and technology in the oil and gas sector”.
· Incentives to have almost one-third of power generated from renewables such as wind and solar by 2030. Weeks later, Alberta said it would double its existing carbon tax on large-scale industrial emitters to 30 Canadian dollars ($22.50) per metric ton by 2017.
In two instances, the climate change panel’s report suggests the province’s royalty review panel will account for the additional costs of the carbon taxes when recommending how to change royalties charged to oil and gas companies in Alberta.
The government also adds in the press release that they will be setting an overall oil sands emission limit of 100 megatonnes, with the provision for new upgrading and co-generation. In September, Notley also told the Guardian that the province would look to diversify its energy portfolio in the coming years, steering away from fossil fuels and towards more renewable energy sources.
She said that anyone in doubt could see the Columbia Icefield glaciers, which are steadily receding as the atmosphere warms, describing Alberta as being on the “front line”, of climate change, alongside coastlines across the world.
“We want to hear from them on this matter and we will be bringing forward a plan that is a precursor to budget 2016”, she said.
Legislate a cap on oil sands emissions: now, the oil sands sector accounts for approximately one-quarter of Alberta’s annual emissions and these facilities are now charged a levy based on each facility’s historical emissions under the SGER.
Notley will take the plan to a meeting of first ministers in Ottawa on Monday and to an global gathering in Paris at the end of the month. “We are extremely pleased with the unwavering commitment the province has made today to ensure the air we breathe is clean”, said Noah Farber, acting president and CEO, Asthma Society of Canada.
But environmentalists have criticized the industry’s energy intensive production process, which makes it Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. “We will be able to say to the world in a real and substantive way that we are an energy producing jurisdiction, we understand the science of climate change, we understand, as industry does, that we are heading into a carbon competitive world and we are ready to take on that challenge”.
Energy policy is largely left to the provinces and some have already outlined new plans. The Paris and subsequent climate change policies are key to convince the premiers of B.C., Ontario and Quebec that new pipelines make sense as part of a climate change strategy.
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Greenpeace Canada called the government’s plan an “historic moment for climate activism” but noted that more work needed to be done to curb climate change.
