Cap and trade debate heats up

By Shaun Polczer
Calgary Herald
September 10, 2009

CALGARY - The debate surrounding Canada's position on capping greenhouse gas emissions is heating up ahead of a global warming summit in Copenhagen this year.

The Fraser Institute waded into the discussion Wednesday after a leading U. S. economist and columnist for the Wall Street Journal lambasted the idea of a cap and trade system as "disastrous" for both Canada and the United States.

Stephen Moore, who co-authored the book The End of Prosperity, called the U. S. energy bill working its way through Congress a "dressed up protectionist measure" in a speech to a Calgary audience. Moore said the economic consequences of cap and trade will dwarf any of the presumed benefits without resulting in substantial emissions reductions. Instead, he said such a policy would make energy more expensive, lowering North Americans' standard of living.

"The Obama people have drunk the Kool-Aid on this."

Meanwhile, Calgary's oilpatch is eagerly hanging on details of Ottawa's greenhouse gas reduction strategy ahead of the UN conference on climate change in December.

Already, companies like Shell Canada are preparing for what are expected to be tough new standards on emissions reductions, said spokesman Phil Vircoe.

Shell is in favour of a cap and trade system that would give oil and gas producers incentives to reduce emissions, he said. Shell executives including regulatory affairs manager Gerry Ertel have been lobbying for a system of caps and offsets as a means of achieving meaningful reduction targets. Ertel was not immediately available to comment, but he told the Herald last week that Shell has been participating in the European cap and trade program since its inception.

"Emissions trading on its own is not enough, however. It is just one part of a much broader climate policy framework that also needs . . . to address emissions from other sources such as transportation and buildings."

Environmentalists remain cautious over what such a system will look like. Clare Demerse, a climate change expert with the Pembina Institute in Ottawa, said it's important to design a system without loopholes that would allow big oilsands companies to trade emissions without making real reductions.

This country is falling behind politicians such as U. S. President Barack Obama and even California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who have emerged as champions of the green movement. The lack of a cohesive policy platform is a disadvantage for Canada in any talks over a North American emissions reduction strategy, she said.

"You don't hear that kind of commitment from our government," she told the Herald. "We need a stronger focus on exactly the kinds of things we're hearing in the U. S. Canada hasn't brought anything to the table."

spolczer@theherald.canwest.com

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