Alberta warms to 'workable' climate change plan

Last Updated: Friday, April 27, 2007 | 12:16 PM ET

CBC News

Reaction to the federal government's new climate change plan is getting plenty of support in Alberta, by far Canada's greatest polluter.

Premier Ed Stelmach said the federal Conservatives' new plan to deal with climate change closely mirrored the plan Alberta launched in March.

"This is a workable plan," Stelmach said during an annual dinner to party faithful in Calgary.

"Yes, it's protecting the environment, but also ensuring that we grow in a planned rate that doesn't bring about more issues that might decrease the very stable investment climate in the province."

However, he also had a warning for Ottawa about the fines for companies who can't meet the targets.

"Alberta's boom is Canada's boom; Alberta's prosperity is Canada's prosperity … Dollars raised in Alberta from offsets and credits should stay in Alberta."

Stelmach wouldn't commit to meeting the federal government's slightly stiffer targets, which require most industries to increase energy efficiency by 18 per cent by 2010.

But Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft said the province is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to addressing climate change.

"I think Ed Stelmach is looking isolated and out of sync with Canada and the rest of the world," he said. "This is a global issue. It's not being driven by Edmonton or even Ottawa."

Under the plan, Canada's total emissions must be reduced 20 per cent by 2020.

Oilsands firms more fearful of Kyoto

Leaders of Alberta's petrochemical industry reacted to the government's plan with begrudging acceptance, with most saying the measures are far more palatable than those under the Kyoto Protocol.

The oilpatch has repeatedly warned that uncertainty arising from new emissions regulations and a continuing royalty review in Alberta was shaking investors' confidence in the sector.

The plan will have a much softer effect on the oil and gas industry than Kyoto, said Frank Atkins, an economics professor at the University of Calgary.

"This represents a balance between the sort of draconian cuts that we would have had to undergo as part of Kyoto, versus the fact we really need the economy to keep going and keep people employed," Atkins told CBC News.

Firms will be forced to look to technology to help them reach the goals, Atkins added.

But not everyone who works in the oil industry is on board with the plan.

Chris Trainer, a pipe fitter originally from Edmonton now working in Fort McMurray, said he's concerned about the speed of development, despite being one of thousands making good money from the province's oil boom.

He said he supports much tougher emissions targets than were announced for the industry, even if it means a slowdown in his work.

"When we work out of town in the bush and everything, it just kind of puts me at an uneasy feeling that we're clear cutting all this forest and everything to build these massive oil production plants," he told CBC News.

"But at the same time, I'm kind of thinking it's helping the economy."