Call for a strong cap on oil and gas emissions

Pipeline storage facility stockpiles pipe, preparing to build the Trans Mountain pipeline

The Canadian government is working on a new policy that would cap emissions from the oil and gas industry, but Big Oil is doing everything it can to stand in the way.

The oil and gas industry makes up less than 7% of our economy, but is the fastest growing contributor to climate pollution in Canada – representing more than a quarter of our emissions. To date, the industry has been getting a free ride with no limits on how much pollution it can create – but that could be about to change.

If implemented correctly, the government’s promised oil and gas emissions cap could help reign in the oil and gas industry and accelerate a transition to a sustainable economy. But industry executives and Conservative politicians are fighting tooth and nail to weaken the policy and try to get it watered down with fossil fuel subsidies. We have to act fast to counter the fossil fuel lobby and show what real climate action should look like.

Help keep up the pressure by having your say in the government’s public comment period. Send a message detailing what a strong emissions cap should look like.

Your letter will be sent to the official email address accepting public comments about the proposed oil and gas emissions cap, and to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland (Minister of Finance), Jonathan Wilkinson (Minister of Natural Resources), and Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change).

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Prime Minister

Justin

Trudeau

Prime Minister of Canada

The Honourable

Chrystia

Freeland

Liberal Party of Canada

Minister

Jonathan

Wilkinson

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

Minister

Steven (personal email?)

Guilbeault

Minister of Environment and Climate Change

To whom it may concern

Oil and Gas Emissions Cap

Comment Period

Canadian Government

To whom it may concern,

Thank you for this opportunity to provide feedback on Options to cap and cut oil and gas sector greenhouse gas emissions to achieve 2030 goals and net-zero by 2050.

As the discussion paper reminds us, the extraction of oil and gas is a roadblock to Canada meeting its climate targets, and is the primary reason that Canada’s emissions have continued to rise since your government signed the Paris Agreement. In that same period, all other G7 nations have seen their emissions fall. That means this policy is not only critical to meeting our international climate commitments, it is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change on a global scale.

This is why I urge you to adopt an Oil and Gas Emissions Cap policy that:

–Creates certainty that absolute emissions reductions will be achieved through the use of a hard cap and the auction of emission credits.
–Ensures that after decades of foot dragging and inaction, Canada’s oil and gas sector finally does its fair share to tackle climate change. This means significant emissions reductions by 2025, and a 60 per cent reduction by 2030.  
– Includes all emissions from the oil and gas sector, including both upstream and midstream emissions from pipelines, refineries, and LNG terminals. Additionally, developed oil exporting countries, including Canada, must acknowledge some responsibility for the emissions from burning oil and gas that we export, which represent 80 per cent of the total carbon footprint 
–Does not create loopholes or “flexibility” that would allow fossil fuel producers to delay climate action through the use of carbon offsets.
–Does not bet the future on technologies which have not been proven at the scale needed to have a meaningful impact on climate change, like carbon capture and storage.
–Upholds the polluter pays principle by not giving public funds or tax breaks to oil giants to meet their climate obligations.
–Acts without delay, by releasing draft regulations by the end of 2022, with final regulations in place during this government’s mandate. 
–Puts people first by being paired with long-promised investments in a just transition for workers and communities, and upholds the government's commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.        
       
Successive Canadian governments have committed to action on climate change, and yet our emissions continue to rise. The reason for a series of missed climate targets and broken promises to the international community is not a mystery. Our elected leaders have been unwilling or unable to stand up to the power of the oil and gas lobby - and as a result, progress on climate change made by other sectors of our economy has been wiped out.

This policy has the potential to break that cycle, but it will only succeed if you and your government adopt an oil and gas emissions cap as ambitious as the crisis that we face is imminent.

Sincerely,
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