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Province won't meet its Kyoto targets, but says new laws will be toughest yet

PATRICK BRETHOUR

Globe and Mail May 27, 2005

With a report from Canadian Press

CALGARY -- Alberta says it will shortly clamp down on emissions of greenhouse gases -- perhaps as early as next year -- introducing regulations that the oil-producing province's Environment Minister claims will be the toughest in Canada.

However, Alberta is not aiming to meet its greenhouse-gas reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, making it unclear how it would outperform Quebec -- which declared this week that it will push to meet its Kyoto targets even if the federal government does not implement the accord.

Alberta has had climate-change legislation for two years, but Environment Minister Guy Boutilier said this week he aims to introduce enabling regulations by September. The details of the plan are still being formed, but this much is clear: Alberta's regulations will focus on heavy industry and they will require companies to do less than would be the case under Kyoto, over a longer period of time.

Environment Department spokeswoman Kim Hunt said the province is contemplating regulations that will set goals for reducing the emissions intensity in industries. Using such goals, a firm operating in the oil sands, one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gases in Canada, would be required to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases generated from each barrel of production. But overall emissions could still rise substantially as production increased.

One Alberta environmental group criticized that notion, saying it avoids the crux of the climate-change issue -- slowing global warming by reducing the rate of greenhouse-gas emissions, and eventually overall levels of those gases.

"The environment doesn't care about intensity targets," said Marlo Raynolds, executive director for the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development.

Alberta is also contemplating goals that rise each year. Ms. Hunt said there will be "significant" goals for industry, with separate targets for each sector, including the oil and gas industry, power generators, mining firms and cement makers.

Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said his industry has been working with the province on greenhouse-gas regulation for several years, but will need to see the specific regulations before voicing an opinion. Mr. Raynolds of Pembina echoed that view, saying it is difficult to know whether to praise or condemn Alberta's plan at the moment.

Meanwhile, Canada has agreed to negotiate a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, dispelling concerns that the federal Conservative government would try to block progress at a major climate conference in Bonn.

There had been predictions that Canada would play an obstructive role since Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Environment Minister Rona Ambrose have criticized the treaty and said its targets are unrealistic.

A leaked government memo to negotiators in Bonn suggested Canada would oppose extension of the treaty in favour of a voluntary approach. But environmental activists said the Canadian delegation kept a low profile.

A spokesman for Ms. Ambrose declined to comment on the outcome, except to confirm that Canada will participate in the next round of talks, scheduled for November.