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UK signals support for EU import of Canadian tar sands oil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/15/uk-signals-support-eu-import-tar-sandsBritain has given its clearest signal yet that it wants to allow European countries to import carbon-intensive tar sands oil from Canada.
Leaked papers seen by the Guardian show that in EU negotiations on laws intended to encourage the use of low-carbon transport fuels, the UK has rejected language that would class tar sands oil as more polluting than conventional crude or other fuels.
The European commission has proposed labelling the oil as "highly polluting" under its fuel quality directive, a move that would deter countries importing it. Studies suggest that oil from tar sands produces more than one-fifth more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional crude.
But of six options put to EU countries in April on how to implement the proposal, the UK chose the two that would make no differentiation between the carbon content of fuels.