His biggest task will be stick-handling the Harper government’s efforts to demonstrate it’s taking concrete action to fight climate change amid criticism from environmental activists who charge that the Tories have set far too modest goals.
Citing the tentative economic recovery, Mr. Kent said the Harper government will not impose any greenhouse-gas reductions on the oil patch that would discourage investment across the sector.
Canada, which has committed to roughly matching U.S. efforts on fighting climate change, is watching carefully as the Obama administration rolls out new emission rules for power plants and refineries. Mr. Kent said Canada will draw up its own emission standards for petroleum refineries – including oil-sands facilities – but added there’s no schedule yet.
“Our focus for the next several years is going to continue to be on maintaining the economic recovery and we will do nothing in the short term which would unnecessarily compromise or threaten to compromise that recovery,” Mr. Kent said. “It is not our intention to discourage development of one of our great natural resources. We know it can be developed responsibly.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said over the holidays it will propose emission-performance standards for new and existing fossil-fuel facilities this year, despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress.
The proposed regulations – to take effect at the end of 2012 – would be in addition to EPA rules that took effect on Sunday that require all new plants or major expansions to get permits for emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases believed to cause climate change.
Canada’s overall goal as laid out by the Harper government is to cut national greenhouse-gas emission levels 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.
The first specific emission-reduction regulations that Ottawa will announce will apply only to coal-fired power generators – a major source of greenhouse gases. These will take effect in 2015.
The Harper government is later planning to unveil emission-reduction rules for other so-called large emitters – including refiners – with a goal of achieving the same broad cuts as the United States. These, Mr. Kent said, will be drawn up “with a sensitivity to maintaining a competitive situation.”
The coal-fired power plant regulations being planned by the Tories are not expected to have a big impact. They will apply only to new plants built after 2015 and old ones being refurbished. Emissions from coal plants have already been dropping largely because of the Ontario government’s decision to phase out coal-powered electricity by 2014.
At the same time, greenhouse-gas emissions from oil and gas are rising rapidly.
The minister added that he plans to follow up a Conservative pledge to regulate pollutants by unveiling a proposal – “I hope some time this year” – for national air-quality standards based on a provincial agreement reached in 2010 by his predecessor. This would include rules for public reporting, modelling and monitoring air quality.
