The Globe And Mail
Fri Oct 16 2009
Page: A2
Section: National News
Byline: Shawn Mccarthy And Richard Blackwell
Dateline: OTTAWA and TORONTO

OTTAWA and TORONTO -- Alberta's oil sands producers should be allowed to significantly increase their greenhouse-gas emissions, even if that means forcing other sectors to take on additional obligations to meet Canada's climate change targets, an industry executive says.

Marcel Coutu, chief executive officer of Canadian Oil Sands Trust, travelled to Toronto yesterday to spread the industry's message about climate change.

The Alberta government and the oil industry argue for "intensity-based" targets that would require lower per-barrel emissions, but allow growing industries to increase their overall carbon dioxide output.

Critics argue the oil companies should face absolute caps on their emissions, but Mr. Coutu said such an approach would stifle growth.

Mr. Coutu - whose company owns 36.7 per cent of the Syncrude oil sands project - acknowledged other sectors would have to take up the slack if the oil sands have intensity-based requirements and Ottawa imposes a cap on emissions.

"What we have to do is prioritize what is most important to the economy and our quality of life," he said. "At the end of the day I don't think there is a single element of our economy that is more important than energy."

Driven by its need to keep the oil industry growing, Alberta has set regulations that will see emissions continue to grow between 2006 and 2020, even as Ottawa attempts to cut levels by 20 per cent over that period. With Alberta representing more than a third of Canadian emissions in 2006, its failure to cut back will require other provinces to reduce their emissions by more than 35 per cent from 2006 levels over the next 10 years.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice has been consulting with provinces on the pending federal regulations, and has encountered resistance from outside Alberta that its industry would either be bound by different rules, or would be allowed to increase emissions to the detriment of other sectors.

In a meeting with The Globe and Mail's editorial board, Mr. Coutu played down the oil sands' contribution to Canada's climate change challenge. He noted the majority of emissions occur in the consumption of energy - not in its production.

He said that oil sands currently represent 5 per cent of total Canadian emissions. However, that figure could triple if planned expansions proceed and other sectors rein in their climate change gases.

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