By Nia Williams and David Ljunggren
(Reuters) -The Canadian government released draft regulations on Monday that would cap emissions of greenhouse gases from the oil and gas sector at 35% below 2019 levels by 2030, drawing condemnation from the industry that said it will force a production cut.
Oil and gas is Canada’s highest-polluting industry and its emissions continue to rise, undercutting progress in many other parts of the economy. Ottawa will likely fall short of its commitment to reduce emissions by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2030 unless the oil and gas sector intensifies efforts to decarbonize.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the sector’s profits hit C$66.6 billion ($47.95 billion) in 2022 and the government wants to motivate producers to invest those profits in decarbonization.
“This goes after pollution, not production,” Guilbeault told a news conference. “We’ve worked carefully to develop what is technically feasible for the sector, to keep industry accountable to their own promise to be carbon neutral by 2050.”
Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and sixth-largest producer.
Ottawa said oil and gas production is still expected to…
Read the full article here