Photo: Roberta Franchuk, Pembina Institute
CALGARY — Amanda Bryant, senior analyst with the Pembina Institute's Oil and Gas program, made the following statement in response to the federal announcement.
“The Pembina Institute welcomes the announcement of Canada's world leading draft regulations for oil and gas methane emissions.
“With 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in a 20-year timespan, plus serious associated air quality impacts and related health harms, methane continues to be an urgent policy priority. The availability of proven and cost-effective abatement solutions makes methane one of the lowest-hanging fruits of emissions reduction.
“Canada continues to show global leadership as an early mover on methane. The regulations effectively prohibit routine venting and flaring and virtually eliminate emissions from pneumatic equipment, which drives machinery with compressed air and is a major source of methane emissions.
"We urge caution when it comes to the performance-based elements of the regulations, the effective design and implementation of which requires comprehensive measurement data that is currently lacking. As studies continue to show that methane emissions are dramatically underestimated and underreported in Canada's oil and gas producing regions, we applaud Canada for committing $30 million in funds to deliver its promised Methane Centre of Excellence. This Centre will improve our understanding of methane emissions by serving as a much-needed hub for the collection and analysis of vital measurement data.
“As Canada's overall greenhouse gas emissions keep growing and key pieces of climate policy continue to meet with delays, we encourage the federal government to finalize and implement these regulations in a timely manner to drive urgently needed emissions reductions.”
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Laurence Miall (English / français)
Communications Manager, Industrial Decarbonization
Responsable des relations médias francophones
Pembina Institute
587-606-4185 (office) or 438-878-1703 (cell)