“Net-Zero Tyranny”

Following the federal government’s announcement of a regulatory framework to cap oil and gas emissions by 35 to 38 percent below 2019 levels, the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan have indicated they will fight back against the policy and protect their “constitutional right” to develop their own energy sectors.

“The recent announcement on what they are calling an emissions cap, but today’s announced de facto production cap on Alberta’s oil and gas sector amounts to an intentional attack by the federal government on the economy of Alberta and the financial well-being of millions of Albertans and Canadians,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during a press conference shortly after the Dec. 7 announcement.

OTTAWA — The federal government’s plan for capping emissions in the oil and gas sector, announced Thursday to coincide with the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, wasn’t as bad as Alberta’s worst fears but still earned a fiery rebuke from the province’s premier.

The policy, which aims to cap 2030 emissions at 35 to 38 per cent below 2019 levels, may be symbolic of the Liberal government’s declining zeal for what was once its flagship policy: the carbon tax.

Canada is aiming to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by at least 75 per cent over the next six years, but the Alberta government said the rules would be “dangerous and unconstitutional.”

The announcement of the proposed regulations was announced Monday morning by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault at COP28 in Dubai(opens in a new tab).

“Lowering methane emissions from our oil and gas sector is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways we can cut the pollution that is fueling climate change,” Guilbeault said.

Alberta’s premier and environment minister, who are also in Dubai at COP28, slammed the federal announcement.

Justin Trudeau’s top priorities ever since his election in 2015 have been action on climate change and a “renewed nation-to-nation relationship” with Indigenous people.

But what happens when your top priorities crash headlong into one another?

It’s quite a study in contrasts. Right after First Nations’ leaders commenced a court challenge against the beleaguered federal carbon tax, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault thought it a good idea to hop on a plane and burn some GHGs to head to a climate change party in Dubai.

One of these two actions is completely tone deaf and out of step with the daily concerns of regular folks, and I think it’s fair to say anyone who is struggling to make ends meet during this affordability crisis can easily identify which one it is.

Large fissures are appearing in the “ Green Transition” story climate crusaders tell themselves. They are trying to foist it on a reluctant public and sceptical business world.

One recent such crack is the carve-out on carbon taxes for heating oil in the politically- fickle Atlantic provinces. Provincial premiers are trying to get the same treatment for other heating fuels.

Yet, politicians who still hew to the climate crisis orthodoxy remain unrepentant. Montreal ’ s city council has announced that all new buildings of three stories or less will not be permitted to use natural gas heating. Taller buildings would face the ban later. Several cities and states in the United States are also trying to restrict natural gas use. Their efforts seem desperate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in it when he removed the carbon tax from furnace oil, while leaving 97% of Canadians out in the cold.

Even in Atlantic Canada, where Trudeau tried to buy off MPs with the carve-out, 77% of people in the region support carbon tax relief for everyone.

The federal government says Canada’s promised oil and gas emissions cap framework could drop any day.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault — now in Dubai for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP28 — said Friday he would be “shocked if this framework wasn’t presented at the end of this conference.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the Liberal government’s plan to impose a lid on emissions from the oil and gas sector at a previous COP summit in 2021.

A month after the federal government exempted home heating oil from its punitive carbon tax, another group is demanding a carve-out — and putting the government in a thorny position.

The Chiefs of Ontario and Attawapiskat First Nation have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over what they allege is “discriminatory and anti-reconciliatory application of the Greenhouse Gas and Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA)” to First Nations. Their main arguments resemble those advanced by rural communities, notably a lack of options when it comes to fuel for things like transportation or industry.