California clean air standards a danger to Cdn oil industry
2007-06-08
http://money.canoe.ca/News/Other/2007/06/08/4243714-ap.html
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Clean-air agreements signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and two Canadian provinces could dramatically slow oil production in the Alberta tar sands.
Ontario and British Columbia have agreed to adhere to California's low-carbon fuel standards, which means the provinces will have to curb oil production sources that create high amounts of global-warming emissions.
The agreements require a 10-per-cent reduction of greenhouse gas output from gasoline and diesel fuels by 2020.
Nine other U.S. northeastern states, plus Illinois, Quebec and Manitoba are all expected to sign on to California's low-carbon fuel standard, which will shrink the market for Alberta's oil industry.
In recent years Canada has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the leading source of U.S. oil imports. Alberta's tar sands include an estimated 174 billion barrels of proven reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia.
The authors of California's new standard say oil companies must adapt or risk losing business.
"This sends a wake-up call to the tar sands industry and they're going to have to clean up their emissions if they want to sell to British Columbia, Ontario, California and pretty soon the rest of the United States and Canada," said Ian Bruce, a climate change specialist at the David Suzuki Foundation in Vancouver.
