Alberta Premier: Questioning Alberta's Environmental Performance "Hurts Canada"
EDIT
Liberal Leader Raj Sherman said a higher carbon price would help pave the way for pipelines. “If we actually dealt with the environmental issues that we face, we could get our pipelines to the U.S. and the West Coast. It’s hurting us not to do this right,” he said.
NDP Leader Brian Mason later asked Ms. Redford whether she believes “that everyone who disagrees with her on Keystone is un-Canadian?” Ms. Redford didn’t directly answer, saying Keystone is “fundamental to Alberta and Canada’s economic growth … we understand it, and [Mr. Mason] does not.”
Alberta has a carbon price, introduced in 2007, of $15 per ton, though it only applies to 12 per cent of emissions from large-scale emitters who fail to find other reductions. It is forecast to raise $60-million in revenue in the 2013-2014 year, down from $70-million the year before. In 2011, the program saw major emitters make changes that cut 1.5 megatons of emissions, or a little more than 1 per cent, that otherwise would have been churned out.
But overall reported emissions have still continued to grow, and oil-sands development is projected to further spur that growth. Meanwhile, Alberta is moving to boost its environmental oversight by beefing up oil-sands monitoring, and has set carbon reduction targets, but is not on pace to meet them. All this comes as environmental questions are the foremost hurdles for pipeline projects, including Keystone XL. Ms. Redford said Alberta will continue to preach its successes, not failures, to leaders abroad. “It’s a record to be proud of, and that’s what we stand by,” Ms. Redford said on Tuesday.
EDIT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/challenging-alberta-on-environment-not-good-for-canada-redford-says/article9972170/