Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz is known in the UCP caucus as the ‘Guilbeault Whisperer.’ .But Alberta’s environment boss isn’t speaking in hushed tones with her federal counterpart, Steven Guilbeault, after his latest tirade from China on emissions caps. This despite concerted — and even courteous — attempts to reach out to Justin Trudeau’s climate attack dog and come to a consensus on electricity regulations..Schulz showed her disappointment with Guilbeault’s latest remarks in an exclusive statement to The Western Standard on Wednesday that expresses what could be best described as exasperation with trying to communicate Alberta’s position in a reasonable tone and tenor..“I have made the effort to meet and communicate with Minister Guilbeault at all available opportunities to try to drive home the point that his policies are disastrous for Albertans and their financial well-being,” she said..“Unfortunately, Minister Guilbeault has refused to listen.”.Since the UCP government was re-elected in May, it’s been Schulz’s job to reach out to Guilbeault in a ‘respectful’ manner while Premier Danielle Smith takes a tougher line in an ongoing war of words on social media..In a speech to the Canadian Energy Executive Association in Banff last week, Smith said that has earned Schulz the moniker “The Guilbeault Whisperer” among her caucus colleagues..But niceties didn’t stop Guilbeault on Tuesday from criticizing Calgary-based Suncor Energy’s decision to refocus its business model on its existing oil sands assets, telling a Canadian Press reporter that it justifies stricter regulation of Alberta’s energy sector..“To see the leader of a great Canadian company say that he is basically disengaging from climate change and sustainability, that he’s going to focus on short-term profit, it’s all the wrong answers,” Guilbeault said. .“If I was convinced before that we needed to do regulation, I am even more convinced now.”.Suncor didn’t respond to a request for comment..It comes as Ottawa is expected to release its latest regulatory assault in the coming weeks or even days with new emissions regulations for oil and gas producers — crossing another red line for the premier and Schulz. .The Liberal government last year floated a 40% to 45% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030 under its economy wide Emissions Reduction Plan. It comes after the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers reported on Thursday that emissions from conventional oil and gas — excluding oil sands — fell about 24% in the last decade..Both Smith and Schulz have said an emissions cap would amount to a de facto production cut on the order of one million barrels per day, or almost a quarter of Alberta’s oil output. Smith on Wednesday said she would not respect limits “under any circumstance,” a point that was echoed by Schulz..“His (Guilbeault’s) current policy approach has massive negative impacts on the Alberta and Canadian economies, as well as the lives of everyday people,” she said..“As we have seen in Guilbeault’s Unaffordable Blackout Regulation, he continuously threatens the reliability and affordability of our power grids and energy industry, all while knowing our concerns.”
