OTTAWA – The federal government isn’t ready to release regulations aimed at stopping rising climate-warming emissions from the oil and gas sector, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Thursday.
“We want to get this right for Canada and when I’m ready to release this information that will be released publicly,” said Aglukkaq in response to questions from opposition New Democrats and Liberals at a parliamentary committee.
Environment Canada recently released a report on Canada’s emissions trends showing that annual carbon pollution from the oilsands industry, the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the country, is pushing an international climate change commitment by Prime Minister Stephen Harper out of reach.
Aglukkaq is the fifth federal Conservative environment minister to pledge regulations for the oil and gas sector after nearly eight years in government.
In 2012, Canadian negotiators publicly told the international community, in response to criticism over its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, that it was “working towards draft regulations for 2013.”
A few months later, Aglukkaq’s predecessor, Peter Kent, said the government was “very close” to “finalizing” those regulations for oil and gas companies.
NDP environment critic Megan Leslie suggested Aglukkaq wasn’t pursuing action to protect the environment.
“She has to look through her notes and then says: ‘well it’s premature (to set a deadline for regulations),’ ” said Leslie. “Give me a break. That says to me that she has no idea, so I don’t know when we’re ever going to see them (regulations) if ever.”
The Harper government has introduced measures to protect forests and expand some parks, protecting the areas from development, a move that helps reduce emissions. It has also introduced regulations to control pollution from coal-fired power plants as well as from the tailpipes of vehicles on the road.
Aglukkaq told reporters that reducing greenhouse gases was important for Canada, but she dismissed recently released documents suggesting that oil industry lobbying was blocking progress.
“They have their views and there’s a process in place and we will examine their feedback as well,” said Aglukkaq, stressing that she was also trying to work with her provincial and territorial counterparts on regulations. “But my take on it is industry wants to do the right thing. They want to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They want to be good environmental stewards as well so this is a partnership and we will move forward when we’re ready.”
In the parliamentary committee, Liberal environment critic John McKay told Aglukkaq that her comments about working with provinces and territories to address climate change were coming “a little late in the day” because of a pending decision by the Obama administration with economic implications for Canada on a pipeline expansion project.
McKay said that the Harper government’s failure to deliver oil and gas regulations, has turned the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would allow Alberta’s oilsands industry to expand and export more of its heavy crude oil to the Gulf Coast of Texas, into a proxy fight over climate change policy, that could affect the Canadian economy.
McKay also questioned recent budget figures released by Environment Canada showing that the department is consistently spending less than what it has in its budget by millions of dollars. McKay suggested this trend could indicate the government is trying to hide some of its budget cuts.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
“We want to get this right for Canada and when I’m ready to release this information that will be released publicly,” said Aglukkaq in response to questions from opposition New Democrats and Liberals at a parliamentary committee.
Environment Canada recently released a report on Canada’s emissions trends showing that annual carbon pollution from the oilsands industry, the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the country, is pushing an international climate change commitment by Prime Minister Stephen Harper out of reach.
Aglukkaq is the fifth federal Conservative environment minister to pledge regulations for the oil and gas sector after nearly eight years in government.
In 2012, Canadian negotiators publicly told the international community, in response to criticism over its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, that it was “working towards draft regulations for 2013.”
A few months later, Aglukkaq’s predecessor, Peter Kent, said the government was “very close” to “finalizing” those regulations for oil and gas companies.
NDP environment critic Megan Leslie suggested Aglukkaq wasn’t pursuing action to protect the environment.
“She has to look through her notes and then says: ‘well it’s premature (to set a deadline for regulations),’ ” said Leslie. “Give me a break. That says to me that she has no idea, so I don’t know when we’re ever going to see them (regulations) if ever.”
The Harper government has introduced measures to protect forests and expand some parks, protecting the areas from development, a move that helps reduce emissions. It has also introduced regulations to control pollution from coal-fired power plants as well as from the tailpipes of vehicles on the road.
Aglukkaq told reporters that reducing greenhouse gases was important for Canada, but she dismissed recently released documents suggesting that oil industry lobbying was blocking progress.
“They have their views and there’s a process in place and we will examine their feedback as well,” said Aglukkaq, stressing that she was also trying to work with her provincial and territorial counterparts on regulations. “But my take on it is industry wants to do the right thing. They want to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They want to be good environmental stewards as well so this is a partnership and we will move forward when we’re ready.”
In the parliamentary committee, Liberal environment critic John McKay told Aglukkaq that her comments about working with provinces and territories to address climate change were coming “a little late in the day” because of a pending decision by the Obama administration with economic implications for Canada on a pipeline expansion project.
McKay said that the Harper government’s failure to deliver oil and gas regulations, has turned the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would allow Alberta’s oilsands industry to expand and export more of its heavy crude oil to the Gulf Coast of Texas, into a proxy fight over climate change policy, that could affect the Canadian economy.
McKay also questioned recent budget figures released by Environment Canada showing that the department is consistently spending less than what it has in its budget by millions of dollars. McKay suggested this trend could indicate the government is trying to hide some of its budget cuts.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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