US should share oilsands burden:Paul Martin
December 14, 2009
CP
TORONTO — Environment Minister Jim Prentice appears to be in agreement with former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin on who should pay for the environmental costs of Alberta's oilsands energy.
Martin has been quoted as saying the U.S. should shoulder some of Canada's carbon emissions burden because it's the chief user of energy from the oilsands.
Prentice, who is at the Copenhagen climate summit, says if Americans buy Canadian oil, the environmental costs should be absorbed on the U.S. side of the border.
Prentice told CTV News that's why the government is working so closely with the U.S. to make sure we have a harmonized system and a continental approach to reducing emissions.
The environment minister says whether it is regulations, or a cap and trade system, it must be integrated or we'll end up losing jobs in Canada and undertaking costs that are not our responsibility.
Martin, who served several years as finance minister, said he fully supports oilsands development.
But he also said development should proceed at a "rational pace," and the resulting environmental burden should be shared by the US.
The US House of Representatives recently passed a bill that contemplates border tariffs on so-called "dirty oil," such as that from Alberta's oilsands.
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