COVID-19 Updates: Taking steps to return to normal.
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COVID-19 Updates: Taking steps to return to normal.
Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon met with Environment and Climate Change Canada Minister Steven Guilbeault to discuss the newly released federal climate plan.
Minister Nixon and Minister Guilbeault spoke about the federal government’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan tabled in Parliament on March 29.
Minister Nixon stated that Alberta’s government will not accept a plan that continues to raise the cost of everything from fuel to food to electricity, and especially not the oil and gas production cuts explicitly laid out in Table 6.9 and on page 221 of the plan.
The world needs more oil and gas and Alberta’s government is not interested in a transition from jobs in the energy sector laid out in the plan.
Minister Guilbeault seemed unaware of the details in his own plan and refuted the existence of a production cut in the document. However, Table 6.9: Bottom-up Analysis Impact on Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production on page 221 provides modelling that shows a 10.6 per cent reduction in oil sands production, an 8.4 per cent reduction in crude oil production, and a 15.9 per cent reduction in natural gas production.
Minister Nixon reiterated that Alberta’s government will not accept a plan that treads on the natural resource guarantees that former premier Peter Lougheed fought hard to gain for the benefit of all Albertans.
Minister Nixon also raised concerns about the rising costs of everything from $2 per litre for gas and diesel to all Canadians, including seniors that are finding it hard to heat their homes or fill their cars, and how the plan would make life more unaffordable for Canadians.
This meeting follows a technical briefing the province was invited to attend with federal counterparts two hours after the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan was released, which Minister Nixon believes is a sign of the plan’s lack of consultation.