From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
       
   . . .  and even from the oil industry itself.  Mind you, some of them are now   
   players in new green technologies, so they're gonna be okay financially.   
   ___________________________________   
   Globe and Mail - November 22, 2015   
      
   Alberta carbon plan a major pivot in environmental policy   
      
      
   On eve of first ministers' meeting with new Prime Minister, Notley's NDP   
   government aims for province to 'stop being the problem' and start being the   
   solution   
      
   Alberta's NDP government is imposing an economy-wide carbon tax starting in   
   2017 and a cap on emissions from the oil sands in a sweeping plan aimed at   
   showing it is serious about fighting climate change.   
      
   Premier Rachel Notley's strategy – a major shift in environmental policy for   
   Canada's largest oil-producing province – will take centre stage as Canada's   
   premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gather in Ottawa on Monday for a   
   first ministers'    
   meeting to craft a strategy for the coming Paris climate talks.   
      
   Canada will be heading to the UN-sponsored summit with a limited national   
   strategy and carbon rules that vary widely between provinces.  The Prime   
   Minister is facing pressure from environmentalists to set national standards,   
   but may also risk push back    
   from the premiers if he does so.   
      
   During the recent federal election campaign, Mr. Trudeau promised to allow   
   Canada's provinces to continue to write their own climate rules. Quebec and   
   Ontario have developed a system of cap and trade, British Columbia has a   
   carbon tax and Alberta will    
   now have a mixture of both systems.   
      
   Alberta's plan, released Sunday, also features a phaseout of coal-fired power   
   in the next 15 years, a 10-year goal to nearly halve methane emissions, as   
   well as incentives for renewable energy.   
      
   "Alberta is leading again," Ms. Notley told a room of supporters at Edmonton's   
   science centre.  "The government of Alberta is going to stop being the problem   
   and we are going to start being the solution."   
      
   The oil industry is in the second year of a crude-price collapse that has led   
   to billions of dollars in spending cuts and at least 37,000 job losses.    
   Previous Progressive Conservative governments in Alberta sought to shield the   
   dominant industry from    
   costly emission limits.   
      
   Even so, the plans won plaudits from powerful oil executives along with   
   environmental groups.   
      
   There are no hard targets, but under the strategy carbon emissions are   
   projected to begin to fall under today's levels by 2030.  The NDP had already   
   announced plans to double the carbon levy on major industrial emitters.   
      
   The new carbon tax is expected to raise $3-billion annually by 2018, but the   
   government will not be cutting any provincial taxes.  Some of the new revenue   
   will be spent on technology to fight climate change and the NDP has committed   
   to helping the lower-   
   earning 60 per cent of households cope with some of the increased   
   transportation and heating costs through an "adjustment fund."   
      
   The six-month-old government says the previous weak climate policies hampered   
   efforts to persuade the United States and other trading partners to accept   
   more shipments of crude from the carbon-intensive oil sands.   
      
   U.S. President Barack Obama said his country's efforts to battle climate   
   change would be tarnished by approving TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL   
   pipeline that would ship Alberta oil to Texas refineries. He rejected it after   
   seven years of review.   
      
   "We got a major wake-up call a few weeks ago in the form of a kick in the   
   teeth from the government of the United States," Ms. Notley said.  "Unfairly   
   in my view, the President of the United States claimed that our production is   
   some of the dirtiest oil    
   in the world.  That is the reputation that mistaken government policy in the   
   past has earned for us."       ಠ_ರೃ                   
      
   Energy leaders had previously warned any onerous new costs would be disastrous   
   for an industry under severe financial pressure.   
      
   Still, Suncor Energy Inc. chief executive Steve Williams, Shell Canada head   
   Lorraine Mitchelmore, Cenovus Energy Inc. CEO Brian Ferguson and even Canadian   
   Natural Resources Ltd. chairman Murray Edwards, who had been among the   
   sharpest critics of the NDP'   
   s economic policies, stood with Ms. Notley and environmental groups to endorse   
   the moves.   
      
   "This plan will position Alberta, one of the world's largest oil and gas   
   producing jurisdictions, as a climate leader and will allow for ongoing   
   innovation and technology in the oil and gas sector," said Mr. Edwards, the   
   Calgary-based oil man, financier    
   and sports-team owner.   
      
   New measures include:   
      
       A 100-megatonne cap on carbon emissions from the oil sands, Canada's   
   fastest-growing source of emissions, once new rules are adopted. It currently   
   emits 70 megatonnes annually.   
       An economy-wide tax of $20 per tonne on carbon-dioxide emissions starting   
   in 2017, rising to $30 in 2018. Equal to seven cents per litre of gasoline,   
   the average household will see heating and transportation costs increase by   
   $470 annually by 2018.   
       Incentives to have nearly one-third of power generated from renewables   
   such as wind and solar by 2030.   
      
   TransAlta Corp., the largest coal-fired power generator, said it was heartened   
   by the gradual shift that it said would "ensure system reliability and price   
   stability" for customers.  The province is appointing a negotiator to work   
   with the industry as it    
   tries to avoid stranding capital, or the loss of asset value by hastily   
   rendering plants useless.   
      
   The NDP devised the strategy with data from a panel led by University of   
   Alberta economist Andrew Leach that held numerous meetings with the public and   
   industry groups in recent months.   
      
   Climate activists including former U.S. vice-president Al Gore applauded the   
   NDP, saying the government was taking much-needed leadership as Canada seeks   
   to improve its environmental reputation at the Paris summit later this month.   
      
   "The oil-sands emissions limit will give the world certainty that our   
   emissions will not grow unchecked.  It's a game changer and will change the   
   debate about the oil sands industry doing its part to address climate change,"   
   said Ed Whittingham,    
   executive director of the Pembina Institute, an environmental think tank.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)