The memos referred to an analysis of Canadian trends in greenhouse gas emissions that projected a sharp rise in emissions from the energy-intensive oilsands industry. The research was actually used by Kent for a speech in January that suggested Canada was one-quarter of the way toward reaching its target of reducing annual emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the country by 17 per cent below 2005 levels.
"Public release of this detailed paper (and associated tables) would permit the government to proactively frame Canada's current progress and challenges in managing greenhouse (GHG) emissions, while maintaining the commitment to transparency and informed public dialogue consistent with Environment Canada's status as a world class regulator," wrote the department's deputy minister, Paul Boothe, in a May 30, 2011, memo to Kent, released through access to information legislation.
Major science academies and governments from around the world have agreed that humans must dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and land use changes that are contributing to global warming in order to avoid major impacts to life on the planet.
But instead of signing off on Boothe's request that the research be released in response to another access to information request that was due on June 10, Kent waited until he received a second memorandum requesting that the material be released in late July.
A spokesman for Kent said the minister was too busy in early June to respond to the department's request, but followed up on it in the summer after getting a reminder from Boothe.
John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said the memos suggest the Conservative government was trying to control the message about its environmental record by withholding the research paper before the last election.
"They didn't want to talk about that during an election they had obviously planned by last January," said Bennett. "So, I think what it does show is a recognition by this government, despite its behaviour, that Canadians are concerned about climate change . . . Releasing things in late July is a way to make sure that very few people see them."
The date of the first memo coincided with intensive international media coverage about Environment Canada's decision to exclude data showing a substantial rise in pollution from the oilsands in a mandatory inventory report on emissions to the United Nations. The missing data revealed that the oilsands industry's annual emissions were greater than annual pollution from all cars on Canadian roads and almost as much pollution in a year as all light-duty trucks in the country.
Governments in Europe and the United States have been closely evaluating oilsands impacts in recent months and years with regard to their own respective policies on climate change and a proposed crude oil pipeline expansion project.
Boothe also noted that the paper and its data were peer reviewed by two academic experts, and one from the industry, who were all generally "very satisfied with the analysis, offering positive and constructive feedback," on the research, which was also specifically sent to Kent's desk.
"The detailed Emissions Trends report is very similar to the draft forwarded to you earlier in the year," Boothe told Kent in the memo from May 30.
Environment Canada recently has declined to release a separate discussion paper that estimates emissions per barrel from the oilsands sector, arguing that it contains information that may harm Canada's national security and foreign relations. The department also said, in response to an access to information request, that this discussion paper includes privileged advice to the government on a matter under consultation.
The second memo sent to Kent on July 27 also noted that the department would update its emissions trends estimates every fall, forwarding the new research to his office when it was available for approval of its public release.
Environment Canada could not immediately say whether an update from last fall was available for release.
Kent has recently indicated he will introduce a plan to regulate emissions from the oilsands in the coming months. But questions about whether the industry is actually reducing its emissions per barrel have become controversial in recent months, with industry stakeholders suggesting they are making progress, while the most recent government statistics show that oilsands companies are no longer collectively achieving reductions.
Previously released internal government records have described the oilsands sector as the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada with significant environmental and economic impacts that could cause irreversible damage, posing a "financial risk" to the province of Alberta.
Canada's oilsands sector produces an estimated 1.5 million barrels of oil each day. The Canadian Energy Research Institute, a collaboration among industry, government and academics, estimates that the sector is responsible for more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada and will contribute more than $1.7 trillion to the country's economy over the next 25 years.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Mike De Souza
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