The Pembina Institute today congratulated the Leader of the Opposition, Stéphane Dion, on his proposal for reducing greenhouse gas pollution from heavy industry. Mr. Dion's proposal would place a Kyoto-level cap on industrial emissions, creating an incentive for companies to undertake all emission-reduction opportunities costing up to $30/tonne of carbon dioxide.
"This is the strongest proposal for regulating industrial greenhouse gas pollution made by any political party in Canada. It sets a new standard against which the Harper government's soon-to-be-announced regulatory framework must be judged," said Matthew Bramley, Director of the Pembina Institute's climate change program.
"We welcome the proposal because it sets the right targets and the right timelines - those laid out in the Kyoto Protocol. And it puts a high enough price on emissions to drive large-scale deployment of low-emission technology in Canada," Mr. Bramley added. "But we would have preferred to see a limit on the extent to which companies can defer emission reductions."
The Pembina Institute has shown that Kyoto-level targets for heavy industry are affordable. The Pembina Institute's Fair Share, Green Share proposal, presented last month to the parliamentary committee considering amendments to the government's Clean Air Act, calculated that the cost would only be around a dollar per barrel for oilsands companies - a small amount compared to fluctuations in the price of oil.
Last week, Alberta's government released a draft regulation for industrial greenhouse gas pollution based on "intensity" targets that would allow emissions to continue increasing.
"Albertans are embarrassed that their government has just legislated an indefinite increase in emissions," said Marlo Raynolds, Executive Director of the Pembina Institute. "If the provincial government had instead adopted something close to Mr. Dion's proposal, it would have put Alberta on a path to real emission reductions in a way that is affordable for the oil industry."
- 30 -
For more information, please contact
Matthew Bramley, Climate Change Program Director
The Pembina Institute
818-210-6115 (cell)
Marlo Raynolds, Executive Director
The Pembina Institute
403-607-9427 (cell)