UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pulled another "unprovoked assault on Albertans.".On Wednesday, Smith tweeted, "Unbelievable! @JustinTrudeau wants to decimate Alberta’s economy with a nearly 50% cut to oil production."."This is another unprovoked assault on Albertans. If you want another 'strongly worded letter' sent to Ottawa, choose the establishment politician.".On July 18, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, and Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, opened consultations on a key commitment by the feds to cap and cut emissions from the oil and gas sector by 2030.."The oil and gas sector is Canada’s largest and fastest growing source of emissions," the Liberals claimed.."To remain competitive in a tighter future market, Canadian production will have to reduce its carbon intensity while the sector also explores opportunities to transition to non-emitting products and services.".The oil and gas sector is a major contributor to Canada’s economy. In 2020, the oil and gas sector generated $118-billion in GDP and accounted for 16% of Canada’s exports (valued at $86-billion). The sector is also a major employer across the country. In 2020, Canada’s oil and gas sector employed 178,500 direct and 415,000 indirect workers. However, the Liberals are committed to cutting emissions by 2030..Trudeau was under fire this week on Twitter for his many plane rides across the country polluting the environment. However, the Liberals say "Reducing oil and gas emissions is key to achieving Canada’s emission targets and driving meaningful climate action.".“Establishing a cap on oil and gas emissions is one of the key commitments of our Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan," Guilbeault said.."Canada’s oil and gas companies have proven repeatedly they can innovate and develop new technologies and more competitive business models. True global energy security and affordability can only come with reduced emissions. With this cap, we will work with industry, provinces, Indigenous groups, civil society, and others to take action on drawing down the emissions from oil and gas production.”.The discussion paper released by the Liberals to launch consultations outlines two options to establish the cap..A cap-and-trade system under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act that sets regulated limits on emissions from the sector; andModifying the carbon pricing benchmark requirements for heavy emitters to create price-driven incentives to reduce emissions to levels corresponding to the cap..The feds say the core to either approach is the goal of lowering emissions at a pace and scale needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and make a meaningful contribution toward Canada’s 2030 emission reduction target.."Also core to either approach is supporting investments in clean technologies to decarbonize the sector and create good, sustainable jobs," the federal government stated..The feds expect to outline the design of the oil and gas emissions cap early next year, ahead of the next steps to implement the cap..Interested parties are invited to submit responses to the discussion paper by Sept. 30, 2022.
