Alberta’s climate plan not just about carbon; new framework takes aim at

The first ministers ended their first formal meeting in almost seven years professing a united front as they prepare for next week’s opening of a United Nations climate summit in Paris.

“I’m hopeful these policies will lead to a new collaborative conversation about Canada’s energy infrastructure on its merits and to a significant de-escalation of conflict worldwide about the Alberta oilsands”, Notley said.

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“Coal power in Alberta puts almost as much carbon into the air as all oilsands operations, so the impact of phasing out these massively polluting power plants and shifting to zero-emission power sources is a landmark step that will cut emissions and save lives”. We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about.

Leach says the NDP plan is very reasonable, and to go any further wouldn’t really reduce carbon emissions, it would just drive the industries that produce carbon emissions elsewhere.

A new study from the University of Calgary has praise for the Notley government’s proposed new carbon tax.

She said the Alberta model is a better way to deliver incentives for greener technology, and to assist in the orderly phase out of coal-fired electricity while keeping electricity plentiful, reliable, and affordable. “When Albertans are looking for a job and have no job it’s going to be pretty hard to be an example to the rest of the world as we have been in the past”.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who was noticeably less enthusiastic than his fellow first ministers about tackling climate change, signalled that he’ll fight to ensure the eventual plan doesn’t unduly hurt the energy industry on which his province’s economy depends. “That we don’t look at a situation where an economy wide carbon tax comes into play and people don’t get the rebate until the end of the year, for instance”.

“It enables Alberta to be a leader, not only in climate policy, but also in technology, innovation, collaborative solutions and energy development”, he said.

“Every cent that is collected by the carbon tax will be recycled back into the economy immediately”, Notley told reporters Tuesday on a conference call.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country’s premiers launched a rebranding campaign Monday aimed at transforming Canada’s image on the world stage from environmental pariah to climate change champion. In this way, Alberta cannot only become a climate leader, but stay an economic leader as well.

A day after Alberta’s NDP Government rolled out their plans to deal with climate change; the official opposition took aim at some of the strategy. “But we can not forget the jobs that are at stake in a sector that’s undergoing a lot of stress right now due to $40 [U.S. per barrel] oil”.

“Certainty has value. As a CEO I have to make risk-adjusted return decisions in terms of how we allocate capital and I now have certainty on what and how my company needs to perform, “said Brian Ferguson, president and chief executive of Cenovus”. Additionally, the government plans to implement a methane reduction strategy to reduce emissions by 45 percent from 2014 levels by 2025.