Capital Goods and Capital

Liberals misquoted on oilsands policy

Cutting greenhouse-gas emissions will make us richer

Mark Holland, Freelance

Published: Monday, February 12, 2007

There is nothing more predictable in Alberta politics than the emergence of the "Eastern Federal Bogeyman" in a provincial election year. So it's no surprise that Premier Ed Stelmach recently called in reporters to declare falsely that I had suggested a federal Liberal government would nationalize the oil- sands.

My comments to a couple of right-wing radio talk shows were not nearly so provocative. I simply said a four- or fivefold increase in oilsands development, which the federal Conservatives are proposing, would create an unacceptable greenhouse-gas emissions problem. That didn't stop a Conservative MP from issuing a news release claiming the federal Liberals planned to shut down the oilsands. Or Edmonton Journal columnist Lorne Gunter from declaring this was the second coming of the National Energy Program.

I said nothing of the sort. But I did express concerns, shared by such notable Albertans as former premier Peter Lougheed, about the impact of out-of-control oilsands expansion.

Alberta's oilsands are an economic and technological success story. But even today at roughly 1.1 million barrels per day, the negative impacts on the environment, river systems and social infrastructure are enormous. Using present extraction and upgrading methods, an expansion to four or five million barrels per day would be unsustainable.

The Constitution is clear that Alberta owns the resource. I own my home, but that doesn't give me the right to empty my sewage into the street.

When massive increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cross provincial and international boundaries, and when interprovincial river systems and fisheries are destroyed, the federal government has a constitutional duty to respond.

Greenhouse-gas emissions are not the fault of any one province, and all Canadians must act to address this cause of global warming.

But the reality is that the oilsands are by far the fastest growing source of emissions. Its projected growth far outstrips any other sector, and a fivefold production increase would blast apart any efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions before 2020.

The transportation, electrical power generation and industrial sectors are also major contributors to greenhouse gases. Those sectors have acknowledged the need to act.

Technology now exists to capture and sequester CO2, but it is not in place and there are still no requirements to use these methods.

By insisting on so-called "intensity" targets, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Stelmach are avoiding action that will make a real difference. It does little good to reduce the amount of carbon from a single barrel of oil by 10 to 20 per cent if you produce five times as many barrels. The rest of the world is focusing on real overall reductions, and "intensity" is just a weasel word for business as usual.

The Stephane Dion Liberals are serious about addressing the causes of climate change. This commitment need not be punitive.

If Alberta's petroleum industry can pioneer the technology to control carbon emissions from oilsands production, it's a technology that Albertans can export around the world, growing richer in the process.

As Mr. Dion has said, "Canada will cut megatonnes of emissions, but we will also make megatonnes of money."

The two goals are not mutually exclusive.

Mark Holland is the MP for Ajax-Pickering and the federal Liberal natural resources critic