Pembina Institute argues projects such as Energy East would boost oilsands production and carbon emissions
The Pembina Institute is warning premiers and territorial leaders they need to think about the effects of pipelines on Canada’s carbon emissions before they think about an energy strategy for the country.
A new report by the think-tank says building new oil pipelines, such as the Energy East project to bring western oil east, could produce more carbon pollution and wipe out a lot of the work the provinces have already done to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
- Ontario joins Quebec, Calif. in cap-and-trade system to cut emissions
- Ottawa says provinces won’t hit their greenhouse gas targets
The report was released Tuesday, as the premiers and territorial leaders meet to discuss climate change in Quebec City.
“The oilsands is Canada’s fastest-growing source of carbon emissions,” says the report. “That means infrastructure proposals such as the Energy East pipeline have significant impact on the federation’s ability to meet climate change objectives.”
The report, titled Crafting an Effective Canadian Energy Strategy, calls 2015 a year of reckoning.
By the fall, governments around the world must reveal their concrete plans to cut carbon emissions for the next decade at an international UN climate change conference in Paris. The initial deadline was March 31, which Canada missed.
National targets coming in June, Harper says
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised that Canada will release its targets for the next decade by June in advance of the meeting.
But the executive director of the Pembina Institute, Ed Whittingham, says Canada is lagging on its promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.
“It’s nip and tuck as to whether Canada will come anywhere close to reaching its 2020 target,” Whittingham said in an interview with CBC News.
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