The Globe and Mail reports that, “The Obama administration has announced plans to impose new greenhouse-gas emission rules on power plants and refineries, a move that will increase pressure on the Harper government to introduce its own national emissions regulations in 2011.”
“The U.S. Environment Protection Agency said over the holidays that it will propose emission performance standards for new and existing fossil-fuel facilities this year… The U.S. regulator said it will require existing power plants and refineries to invest in the best available technology to reduce emissions, but has not yet unveiled specific proposals.”
“Bill Rodgers, a spokesman for Mr. Baird, reiterated that the government intends to harmonize with U.S. climate-change rules, but wouldn’t comment on the EPA’s recent announcement.”
“(This) would be in addition to EPA rules that came into effect on Sunday (January 2) that require all new plants or major expansions to get permits for emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). …Federal Environment Minister John Baird has said Ottawa will not adopt similar measures, but will broadly match the U.S. regulatory approach.”
“The oil industry has warned that EPA rules – and any effort to match them in Canada – would drive up costs for North American refineries, meaning higher prices for motorists, airlines and the trucking industry. Oil-sands producers would be particularly vulnerable because they require emission-intensive processing to transform the crude bitumen into gasoline and diesel.”
“(Canadian Petroleum Products Institute) spokesman Peter Boag said the Harper government is planning to harmonize the ‘outcomes’ of U.S. emission regulations – meaning roughly equivalent stringency – rather than precisely copying EPA rules. He said the EPA’s regulatory approach gives industry little flexibility in meeting emission-reduction goals.”
“…(But) the Harper government has given no indication how it intends to regulate Canadian industry, including oil companies who could face significant additional costs for the rapidly expanding oil-sands sector if Ottawa follows the U.S. lead.”
“(Liberal environment critic Gerard) Kennedy said Mr. Harper may choose to ‘lie in the weeds’ and wait to see whether Congressional opposition or industry lawsuits can derail the EPA’s plans.”
There is also news in this article that, “Ottawa plans to introduce draft regulations in April that would force power companies to eventually replace traditional coal-fired power plants with lower-emission ones, including natural gas or carbon-capture-and-storage technology. But those rules would only come into force in 2015, and would not require existing power plants to reduce emissions.”
The report is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-to-impose-new-emission-rules-on-power-plants-refineries/article1855631/?.
