XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, bc.politics
XPost: edm.general
From: doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca
In article ,
Barry Bruyea wrote:
>On Wed, 10 Dec 2014 13:41:38 +0000 (UTC), doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca
>(The Doctor) wrote:
>
>>In article ,
>>=?UTF-8?B?IijgsqBf4LKgKSAi?= wrote:
>>>December 9, 2014 - Macleans
>>>
>>>
>>>Harper and the oil patch: Honesty is the only policy
>>>
>>>The prime minister explains crazy policy to us
>>>
>>>
>>>Prime Minister Stephen Harper, today in the House of Commons:
>>>
>>> “Frankly, Mr. Speaker, under the current circumstances of the oil
and gas
>>>sector, it would be crazy, it would be crazy economic policy to do
unilateral
>>>penalties on that sector. We’re clearly not going to do that,� Harper
told the
>>>House as Conservative MPs roared their approval.
>>> “In fact, nobody in the world is regulating their oil and gas
sector. I’d
>>>be delighted if they did. Canada will be there with them.�
>>>
>>>Jim Prentice, then federal minister of the environment, not quite five
years ago:
>>>
>>> “For those of you who doubt that the government of Canada lacks
either the
>>>willingness or the authority to protect our national interests as a ‘clean
>>>energy superpower,’ think again,� he warned darkly. “We do and we
will. And, in
>>>our efforts, we will expect and we will secure the co-operation of those
>>>private interests which are developing the oil sands. Consider it a
>>>responsibility that accompanies the right to develop these valuable Canadian
>>>resources.�
>>>
>>>Back then, it was possible to believe the federal government would impose
>>>regulations on the oil and gas industries. The government certainly said it
>>>would, often enough. (Peter Kent in February, 2013: “We are now well
into, and
>>>very close to finalizing, regulations for the oil and gas sector.�) But,
as
>>>Chris Turner reminds us in his book The War on Science, Prentice quit as
>>>environment minister in November 2010, and the Harper government’s
periodic
>>>attempts to demonstrate environmental virtue, even at some hypothetical
cost to
>>>the resource sector, pretty much came to an end.
>>>
>>>Of course, it can be hard to tell where the notion of oil and gas
regulations
>>>ended. Prentice himself has been sounding much like Harper since he became
>>>premier of Alberta:
>>>
>>> “Environmental performance is important, but so, too, is our
industrial
>>>competitiveness . . . I think this low-price environment is a reminder . . .
>>>that we have to be careful laying on costs, including regulatory costs, on
our
>>>industry, because we need to remain competitive.�
>>>
>>>But is even that new? From my 2010 article, linked above:
>>>
>>> “We will only adopt a cap-and-trade regime if the United States
signals
>>>that it wants to do the same. Our position on harmonization applies equally
to
>>>regulation. Canada can go down either road—cap and trade or
regulation—but we
>>>will go down neither road alone.�
>>>
>>>So the paper trail on the government’s oil and gas policy is a bit of a
mess.
>>>The feds will only impose regulations in concert with the Americans? Well,
>>>there are two problems with that story. First, as Bruce Cheadle points out:
>>>
>>> An Environment Canada briefing memo revealed last month by the Globe
and
>>>Mail shows that the United States, in fact, placed what were called
>>>“significant� limits on its oil and gas sector in 2012.
>>>
>>> “For oil and gas, recent air pollution regulations are expected to
result
>>>in significant greenhouse-gas reduction co-benefits, comparable to the
>>>reductions that would result from the approach being developed for this
sector
>>>in Canada,� states the June 2013 memo obtained by Greenpeace under an
Access to
>>>Information request.
>>>
>>>Second, there is simply no record of a concerted Canadian effort to work
with
>>>the Americans on joint regulations. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird
>>>mentions the Keystone pipeline to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in
every
>>>meeting and at every phone call. There is literally no record of any public
>>>proposal from Harper to U.S. President Barack Obama to work on the joint
>>>regulations that are now, the PM says, the necessary condition of any
Canadian
>>>regulations.
>>>
>>>In this light, I note with genuine surprise that the “U.S.-Canada clean
energy
>>>dialogue� that was created when Obama visited Ottawa in 2009 is actually
still
>>>a thing. I also note with no surprise at all that the latest joint report,
>>>barely a month old, does not mention joint regulations on oil and gas
>>>industries anywhere in its 10 pages.
>>>
>>>So. The feds have been promising oil and gas regulations for seven years,
while
>>>periodically insisting they could produce no such regulations without U.S.
>>>co-operation. They have also refused to seek such co-operation, while
refusing
>>>to follow up on helpful U.S. unilateral action. (By “helpful,� of
course, I
>>>mean “action that would seem helpful if anyone felt like constraining the
>>>carbon emissions of the oil and gas sector. Like, hypothetically.�)
>>>
>>>One more thing. If the price of oil is too low for regulations, this would
be a
>>>big change from the last seven years, when the Harper government’s
argument was
>>>that the price of oil was too high for regulations. There is, in the
consistent
>>>messaging of this government, no time when government action to constrain
the
>>>carbon emissions of the oil sands is appropriate. When the price is high,
it’s
>>>too high. When it’s low, it’s too low. One can assume governments in
potential
>>>export markets have noted this message, and will act accordingly.
>>
>>Looks like shortsightedness strikes again!
>
>It's pathetic the way you liberals are worrying about the price of oil
>which Canada has no control while your idiotic liberals in Ontario
>piss away more billions, raise the debt and just stumble along and you
>clowns say nothing. But then, Hypocrisy is mandatory for most
>liberals.
>
Well what rosy glasses Conservatives!!
--
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tor@@nl2k.ab.ca
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