Alberta’s massive oilsands expansion will significantly damage the climate in Canada over the next 10 years, mostly to satisfy U.S. energy demand, says a new report by the David Suzuki Foundation.

By 2010, Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions — the gases blamed for global warming — will increase to about 827 million tonnes, or about 44 per cent above the 575 million tonnes the country agreed to in the Kyoto international climate change accord, the report predicts. But the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) says the industry is only responding to ever-increasing energy demands by individual consumers and the private sector.

“It’s great for the Suzuki Foundation and other to try and put the blame on industry,” said David MacInnis, a spokesperson for CAPP.

“But the reality is, all of us as individuals are consuming more goods and services, and those goods and services take energy to manufacture or deliver.”

Foundation headed by David Suzuki warns more climate change is coming.

The Suzuki Foundation report says fossil fuel production, including oilsands, new natural gas production and new coal-fired electricity generation, will make up at least one-quarter of the predicted increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

The remainder will be due to energy consumption, including private and public transportation, the agricultural, manufacturing and other industries, and commercial and residential heating, lighting and appliances.

In fossil fuel production, most of the increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases — 60 million tonnes a year by 2010 — will come from new and proposed oilsands projects in Alberta, the report says.

Albertans are now experiencing drought, water rationing, forest fires and worsening insect infestations in northern forests, said Gerry Scott, climate change campaign director for the Suzuki Foundation.

“These are all the things that are going to be more intense and more frequent with climate change.”

MacInnis said the Canadian petroleum industry’s strategy, under a continental energy plan being developed by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, will not be to simply produce as much oil, gas and oilsands bitumen as possible to satisfy U.S. demand.

“Just as Canadians believe that you can have economic growth while having a sound, clean environment, so too does CAPP and its members,” he said.

CAPP spelled out its strategy in a report to the federal government released last Wednesday.

The report, titled In the National Interest: a Canadian Oil and Natural Gas Strategy Within a North American Energy Market, recommended more research and development of clean fuel and energy efficiency technologies, as well as energy conservation strategies.

CAPP also reiterated its call for Ottawa to establish a national program that would encourage the private sector to voluntarily reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, by allowing industries to trade credits for such reductions in an open market.

Scott, however, said voluntary action on climate change “has been a complete and total flop. We’ve got this ‘talk and pollute’ strategy from both industry and senior government.”

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada agreed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to six per cent less than the levels in 1990.

Instead, the country’s emissions have increased by about 20 per cent above the Kyoto target and will rise to 44 per cent by 2012 without a better strategy, the Suzuki Foundation report says.

It recommends improving vehicle fuel efficiency standards and energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings, as well as incentives to promote renewable energy sources. It also calls for an emissions-trading system, but with mandatory national limits on overall emissions — a step the petroleum industry opposes.

MacInnis pointed out that the industry has used new technologies to reduce by half the amount of energy required to produce each barrel of oilsands oil. “On a per-unit basis . . . energy intensity is down.”

Web Watch:
www.davidsuzuki.org/fuel
www.capp.ca/