US and Canada continue climate alliance with move to curb methane emissions
Source: The Guardian
US and Canada continue climate alliance with move to curb methane emissions
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington DC
Thursday 7 April 2016 01.57 BST
The US and Canada will take their newfound climate alliance to the next level on Thursday, advancing efforts to curb emissions of methane, a powerful warming agent produced at fracking sites and tar sands, ageing oil installations and pipelines.
Thursday’s meeting in Ottawa represents one of the last chances to grow on the climate partnership agreed on by the US president, Barack Obama, and Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, before the president leaves the White House.
The US and Canadian leaders enjoyed a mind meld on climate change, according to Gina McCarthy, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We have real kindred spirits in Canada right now, and a tremendous interest on the part of prime minister Trudeau and president Obama to really work together,” McCarthy told a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Obama and Trudeau agreed last month to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by up to 45% from 2012 levels by 2025. The understanding was a break with the pro-energy policies of Stephen Harper, the former prime minister, who had lobbied heavily for the Keystone XL pipeline.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/06/us-canada-obama-trudeau-climate-change-methane-emissions
