It wasn't quite a reprimand, but Environment Minister Jim Prentice's remark that when it comes to Canada's oil sands, governments and corporations "need to up [their]game," was a necessary and overdue reminder to an industry often too happy to ignore its responsibilities. It is awkward for Mr. Prentice to point fingers, though, when talking about climate change.
In a speech to the University of Calgary on Monday, Mr. Prentice said that "the general perception of the oil sands is profoundly negative" and worried that Canada could "be cast as a global poster child for environmentally unsound resource development." The failure to engage, both with more aggressive sustainability practices and better communications around what it has done, mean that the oil patch's positive message as a secure and increasingly clean source of energy is not coming through.
Further regulation or a cap-and-trade system is coming, if not both. Indeed, the question of oil sands development transcends "the interests of any single corporation," said Mr. Prentice. "What is at issue on the international stage is our reputation as a country." But while some companies tout a reduction in emissions intensity, there has been no industry-wide plan, or national plan that includes the oil patch, responding to the inevitable need to cut emissions in absolute terms.
Unfortunately, Mr. Prentice dilutes these reasonable messages. An attack on Quebec's new auto standards in the very same speech is the same kind of unhelpful talk that adds to Canada's image as a climate laggard. In the absence of federal guidance, some provinces - in particular, Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Manitoba - are working with each other and with groups of U.S. states on policies that will achieve meaningful reductions. Mr. Prentice calls for continued expansion of the oil sands, but has used a justifiable deference to alignment with U.S. policy as a reason for doing nothing. Without a framework that makes the need for emissions reductions apparent, the oil patch also feels content to do little.
Finally, the federal government touts Canada as a "Clean Energy Super Power," but its main fund for getting wind energy projects off the ground is out of cash. (Again, provincial leadership has been stronger, with Ontario gaining a large wind-turbine manufacturing and generation presence in a recently announced deal with Samsung).
If Mr. Prentice manages to nudge the oil patch to tell a better story and get better environmental results, everyone will benefit. His own government could use a little nudging, too.