Canada's tar sands heartland can't deny climate change, says Alberta minister
10 September 2015
Canada's tar sands heartland can't deny climate change, says Alberta minister
Shannon Phillips says ‘great appetite for action’ on carbon emissions exists in Canadian province despite economy relying heavily on fossil fuel extraction
Reuters in Calgary
Thursday 10 September 2015 00.36 EDT
The environment minister of Alberta – the province where the tar sands industry is Canada’s fastest growing source of carbon emissions – says the days of denying climate change are over. The minister, Shannon Phillips, told a conference on Wednesday that the New Democratic party provincial government elected in May was taking action after the targeting of Alberta’s climate change record by North American environmental groups in recent years.
Alberta, the biggest source of US oil imports, has also faced international criticism for what has been perceived as lax oversight of extraction and production of fossil fuels.
“There is a great appetite for action on climate change in our province,” Phillips said at a conference hosted in Edmonton, the provincial capital, by the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental group. “The days of denial are over.”
Phillips, whose party ended 44 consecutive years of Conservative rule in the western Canadian province, said at a news conference that Alberta needed to consider new action including the possibility of tougher vehicle emissions standards to avoid having the worst air quality in Canada.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/10/canadas-tar-sands-heartland-cant-deny-climate-change-says-alberta-minister
[center]
[/center]
