The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) has reported Canada’s oilsands producers are prepared to take a greater leadership role on climate action as part of the growing global intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Tim McMillan, CAPP President said, “Alberta has world class energy resources and oilsands companies are committed to developing world class […]
Oil industry leader says doing nothing on climate change is not an option
An energy industry heavyweight told a Calgary forum on climate change a healthy environment is key to a health economy–and vice versa. Suncor President and CEO Steve Williams says even though we don’t have all the answers, the time for action is now, doing nothing is not an option.” Other comments from the conference put […]
Will climate change target be met this time by Canada?
Canada has an enviable record of setting ambitious climate change targets, having done so four times since signing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. Its record at meeting them is far less praiseworthy – three failures so far. But the fourth target, announced by the federal government on May 15, may […]
Comment: Alberta climate change minister has her work cut out for herself
Diana McQueen has set the bar high in her role as minister for climate change in Alberta. To start with, McQueen is promising Alberta will meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets. “I have a mandate from the premier to meet those reduction targets,” McQueen said. “We will continue to have a strong economy while meeting the 2020 […]
Comment: Stop drilling in the Arctic
In late March, the U.S. Department of the Interior swung the door wide open to drilling in the remote waters of the Arctic Ocean when it announced that it was reaffirming controversial Bush-era leases for the Chukchi Sea. In 2008, the Bush administration offered nearly 30 million acres of remote and poorly understood ocean to […]
Forests at risk so oil can flow
The world’s last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost – and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines. A new satellite study reveals that since 2000 more than 104 million hectares of forests – an area three times the size […]
Premiers give stamp of approval to climate change plan
Ontario and Quebec have seized the leadership of a long-promised Canadian energy strategy, shifting the focus to climate change and clean energy from the pipeline agenda. At the closing session of their annual conference on Prince Edward Island, premiers released the outline of the Canadian Energy Strategy, which every one of them has endorsed. The […]
Quest to sequester, a Shell Canada first
To paraphrase a famous observation, “Everybody talks about climate change, but nobody does much about it.” Indeed, media reports and scientific publications may be thick with discussion of this extraordinary environmental phenomenon but practical proposals for directly dealing with it are thin on the ground while full-scale initiatives are even more scarce. It is worth […]
Comment: Oil sands phase-out may be Canada’s greatest contribution to the world
The occasion of writing this column prompted reflection on my engineering career, in particular three critical junctures. The first was in 1970, when my teacher pointed to Northern Alberta on a map at the front of our classroom, declaring that the oil embedded in the soil there would be Canada’s most important contribution to the […]
Comment: The silly things people say
“Climate change is happening now — and humans are responsible. We cannot sit idly by and watch the fossil fuel industry make billions at our collective expense. We must put a price on carbon — now.” Speaker: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Context: This quote will only seem silly to climate change deniers, the energy industry and […]