Mark Carney, the former Canadian political leader, has put down a gauntlet. If elected, he will hold his government’s feet to the fire by keeping the cap on oil and gas production emissions. The Canadian Press reported this development, emphasizing that the cap mandates producers to reduce emissions by approximately one-third over the next eight years. Instead, Carney admitted, the regulation does not directly reduce emissions. For that to yield real change, he said, there must be collaboration and a new paradigm.
Carney’s intervention proved crucial at the last first ministers meeting. He focused on the importance of working together to reach emissions goals. Encouragingly, the federal government is moving to accelerate smart technology investments. This enabling technology is primarily focused on monitoring emissions in the oil and gas sector. Carney’s promise Carney promised that his government would consult extensively with industry and provincial authorities to achieve this goal.
“The regulation or a law doesn’t reduce emissions,” stated Mark Carney.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has announced her fierce opposition to the emissions cap, demanding that Ottawa scrap it completely. Smith contends that the cap sets unattainable goals for producers to meet.
“Yesterday in my discussions with the prime minister, I made it clear that Alberta will no longer tolerate an emissions cap on oil and gas, which absolutely works like a production cap,” said Smith.
In her rebuttal, Carney responded by explaining the difference between an emissions cap and a production cap. He reiterated the importance of that investment in getting to lower emissions while increasing production.
“There is a role for an emissions cap — and again, emissions cap, not a production cap, just to be clear because some twist it — but what’s required in order to get those emissions down of the production that we can see growing … is investment,” Carney remarked.
Just after Thanksgiving, the federal government released draft regulations. These new rules drastically increase the stakes, demanding nothing short of a one-third reduction in emissions within the next eight years. These regulations, initially scheduled for release two years earlier, aim to provide a structured approach to managing emissions in the oil and gas industry. Carney emphasized that the themes under discussion at this week’s first ministers meeting align with the federal government’s agenda. The hope is to introduce that kind of framework governing important technological investments.
“What I’m focused on is action in order to reduce those emissions. That requires partnerships, it requires a different framework — the types of things we talked about (at the first ministers meeting),” Carney explained.
The meeting furthered that objective by providing an opportunity to discuss how to make these investments happen. Carney praised progress made on unlocking potential solutions, but echoed the call for more progress in a further and faster way.
“The issue is getting the investments down, how are we going to get them down. I’m focused on that. We’re making progress in unlocking that. We need to continue to work on it,” Carney stated.
