While Trudeau got attention, it’s Obama who ran the climate change victory lap

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got his day within the Washington sun Thursday for supporting U.S. President Barack Obama’s climate change action.

Canada, U.S. agree to cut methane emissions from oil and gas industry by almost half

President Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announce the steps in Washington, a move meant to underscore their commitment to combat climate change

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Make no mistake: While Trudeau got the interest, it’s Obama who got the victory lap.

He beat Canada on the Keystone XL debacle, which led to the containment of Canadian gas and oil industry growth, and destroyed seven many years of frosty bilateral relations with former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the cost of hosting a situation visit using the new Liberal leader.

Under Obama’s watch, U.S. oil production soared, a ban on oil exports was lifted to permit U.S. oil to reach world markets and also the U.S. liquefied natural gas industry beat Canadian projects to export markets.

Meanwhile, proposed Canadian pipelines remain tied in knots, thanks to opposition from the same U.S.-funded NGOs that led the assault against KXL; Canadian oil has been unable to reach export markets; the Canadian LNG market is going nowhere; Canadian oilsands production has been capped; Canadians are facing carbon taxes while their U.S. counterparts aren’t; Canada’s fossil fuel treasure trove has been marginalized towards subsidized alternative energy as part of an enormous, government-directed intrusion in the energy economy.

Indeed, during Obama’s administration, the U.S. gas and oil industry became Canada’s biggest competitor, as highlighted in Alberta’s recently released royalty review report:

“Advances in technology have unlocked significant new sources of oil and gas supplies, particularly from unconventional deposits in the usa,” the report says. “The U.S. has become a rejuvenated force in gas and oil production, one which poses huge risks to Alberta’s share of the market. This is problematic, since we’ve long relied on the U.S. as our primary (and also to some extent only) customer, and we don’t have sufficient means to move then sell our gas and oil to other countries.”

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The two countries announced global warming initiatives on Thursday to show they are united in the fight to contain global warming. However the measures are marginal and don’t even level the playing field on global warming.

Canada is continuing to move forward at full speed, because of new governments in Alberta and Ottawa, penalizing the power sector with the hope the environmental leadership will win energy markets and pipeline approvals in the future.

Obama continues to be unable to drive higher action due to opposition from Republicans dominating Congress and has used his executive powers to make change with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. His days in power are numbered and the moves could be reversed if a Republican wins the White House in November.

In a statement, the 2 leaders said they “regard the Paris agreement as a level in global efforts to combat climate change and anchor economic development in clean development,” talking about global commitments to reduce carbon to keep the increase in temperatures increases to below 2C, and decided to play a leadership role internationally within the low carbon global economy.

“It’s wonderful to see our American friends and partners share and working on the exact same priorities,” Trudeau said at the White House’s south lawn.

The centerpiece of their climate announcement is an agreement to lessen methane emissions from gas and oil up to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. Included in that effort, the U.S. is beginning regulatory efforts to limit emissions at existing oil and gas infrastructure for the first time.

According towards the EPA, methane is 84 times as potent as carbon dioxide in warming the climate over Two decades, and also the gas and oil sector makes up about in regards to a third of U.S. emissions.

Alberta announced methane reduction targets in November. It’s the least controversial part of its climate leadership plan, that also targets a 45 percent reduction by 2025. British Columbia matched Alberta’s program a week ago.

Gary Leach, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, said Alberta was already an innovator in the area and it is not obvious what Ottawa’s participation brings.

“This raises some uncertainty about where the regulatory standards will be established and whether you will see duplication,” he said. “And we have to be mindful of what has been accomplished.”

The campaign against the U.S. methane cap has already started. The American Petroleum Institute slammed the rules, saying increased utilization of natural gas from shale discoveries helped the U.S. cut greenhouse gas emissions to close 20-year lows.

“Additional regulations on methane by the administration could discourage the shale energy revolution that has helped America lead the world in lessening emissions while significantly decreasing the costs of one’s to consumers,” the API said. “The administration is catering to environmental extremists in the cost of American consumers.”

Obama can come to Canada this summer for that United states leaders summit and will address Parliament. Having contributed to the hardship faced by Canada’s energy sector, and participated in damaging its reputation by calling us a producer of “dirty oil,” would be appropriate for Obama to understand its leadership in clean gas and oil production.

ccattaneo@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/cattaneooutwest