Environmental Defence

Without federal action, Canada will miss easiest, cheapest opportunity to reduce climate emissions

New analysis shows oil and gas methane regulations will create a gap of up to seven million tonnes

(OTTAWA) Unless the federal government revises its methane regulations to take into account new analysis, Canada will miss by a wide mark an international commitment made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reduce oil and gas methane emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2012 levels by 2025. Read More

Alberta’s regulations fail to effectively address major sources of emissions

Federal government would put Canada’s climate ambition at risk if Alberta’s weak methane regulations are approved

Alberta needs to improve its oil and gas methane regulations significantly before they go to the federal government for approval. The current regulations will fail to meet Canada’s methane reduction targets of 40 to 45 per cent by 2025.  Read More

Statement on the Supreme Court of Canada Ruling on the Alberta Orphan Well Association Appeal

Edmonton, Alta. – With its ruling today, the Supreme Court of Canada has rightfully put the health of our environment ahead of banks. Companies cannot shed their environmental liabilities in order to pay banks back first. This ruling is a win for all Canadians, as there are massive outstanding environmental liabilities in many sectors, not just oil and gas. Read More

Alberta’s methane regulations will fail to meet provincial reduction target

Province fails to demonstrate how carbon price and methane rules will achieve the GHG reductions needed to match federal rules

CALGARY, AB – Based on new comprehensive modelling, Alberta’s methane regulations will allow oil and gas companies to release far greater volumes of harmful methane pollution than if they followed the federal methane regulations enacted earlier this year by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).   In Alberta, the ECCC rules would reduce methane pollution in 2025 by almost 35 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) while the Alberta rules released today will reduce only 22 million tonnes of CO2e.  This equals a reduction of 36%, clearly failing to achieve Alberta’s own 45% methane reduction commitment, squandering one of the highest-value, lowest-cost opportunities to deliver significant progress towards Alberta’s and Canada’s climate goals.  Regrettably, recent research shows Alberta’s proposed carbon pricing regime offers no rescue for this missed opportunity because the carbon price does not cover, nor apply to the majority of methane emissions. Read More

Alberta's carbon levy is working

Joshua Buck, Alberta Program Manager for Environmental Defence writes:

Since Alberta’s economy-wide carbon levy was introduced in 2017, a lot of claims have been made about the levy, both positive and negative. So, what are the facts? That’s what we wanted to know. We did some investigation and put together a report: Carbon Pricing in Alberta – A Review of its Successes and Impacts. And what did we find? Overall, Alberta’s carbon levy is a success. Read More

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