Canada pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, but environmental groups quickly bashed the plan because it didn’t include new restrictions on oil sands.
The Friday announcement from Canadian Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq served as the country’s commitment in the United Nations global climate talks that start in December in Paris. She said it was a “fair and ambitious” goal, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail.
But environmental groups slammed the proposal because they said it would allow continued production of Canada’s oil sands.
“Ignoring the most significant contributor to Canada’s emissions essentially guarantees that they will fail to meet even these weak targets,” said a coalition of environmental organizations that included the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oil Change International.
The thick crude from the oil sands is more carbon-dense than other varieties and therefore considered more of a driver of climate change. Most scientists say global warming is caused primarily by humans burning greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.
The American Petroleum Institute shot back at environmental groups.
“Enviro’s unhappy b/c it doesn’t cut their preferred pariah: oil sands,” tweeted Linda Rozett, vice president of communications with the trade group.
Developing the oil sands is a key part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s economic platform. Much like shale oil has been a boon for the U.S. economy, oil sands play a similar role underpinning Canadian growth.
Harper has previously said it would be “crazy” to impose new emissions limits under current price conditions.
Oil is trading at nearly half its June price, when it fetched more than $100 per barrel. That has threatened production in the oil sands, which is costlier to extract than conventional crude.
U.S. officials have called on Canada to issue an ambitious target ahead of the climate talks. President Obama has committed the U.S. to slash emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
Nations hope the negotiations will yield a framework for governing emissions reductions beyond 2020 in hopes of keeping global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2100.
