Mark Carney Abandons Trudeau’s ‘Divisive’ Climate Policies, Ahead of Separation Vote in Oil-Rich Alberta

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is abandoning his predecessor’s climate policies, in what is seen as an effort to placate Alberta ahead of a major referendum that could decide whether the oil-rich province remains in Canada. Mr. Carney released a 17-minute video on Tuesday disavowing the climate plan laid out by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which would have required the oil and gas sector to slash emissions by 137 million metric tons, or about 37 percent below 2022 levels, by 2030. “In my judgment, that plan was not sustainable over the long term,” Mr. Carney said. “It would have been too expensive for Canadians. Canadians who are already struggling with affordability.”The prime minister said that the climate plan “would have been too divisive for our country” and created “an opportunity for those people who wish to pull Canada apart both at home and abroad.”Mr. Carney’s video comes months ahead of a major vote in the oil-rich province of Alberta on the question of whether or not it should “separate from Canada.”The leaders of the movement have argued that the ruling Liberal Party’s environmental policies have hurt Alberta’s economic growth by impeding the construction of pipelines.Mr. Carney said that “emissions will be higher in the next few years.”Along with lifting the emissions cap, Mr. Carney said that the federal government will also increase exports of liquefied natural gas and support the construction of a pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast.“We can’t afford to restrain the growth of an important part of our energy mix, oil and gas, to meet a short-term goal,” Mr. Carney said. “The truth is, nobody knows how long the global economy will rely on conventional energy. But while it does, as much of that energy as possible should come from Canada.”The prime minister was scheduled to meet with British Columbia Premier David Eby to discuss the pipeline, which is expected to face local resistance. Mr. Carney’s decision to roll back Mr. Trudeau’s climate plan is seen as, in part, an attempt to placate Albertans, but recent polling appears to show the push to leave Canada does not have enough support to pass. An Ipsos poll conducted for Global News last month found that 19 percent of Albertans would vote in favor of a binding separation referendum, while 72 percent said they would vote to stay in Canada. Mr. Carney faced criticism for his announcement from Amnesty International, which called the reversal “alarming.”The secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, Ketty Nivyabandi, said, “Prime Minister Carney must shift away from fossil fuels and toward an economy based in human rights and dignity for all, powered by renewable energy. The cost of this fossil-fuel expansion is too high for present and future generations.”Ms. Nivyabandi pointed to the heatwave in Canada and Europe, where more than 1,300 deaths have been attributed to scorching temperatures. A group of young Canadians and environmental groups is challenging Mr. Carney’s decision to roll back Mr. Trudeau’s climate plan. The 2021 climate accountability act requires the government to create credible climate targets and a plan to achieve those goals. The group asked a federal court to force the Carney government to comply with the 2021 law. While climate activists criticized Mr. Carney’s announcement, the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, suggested that the prime minister will not be making meaningful changes.“Let’s be honest about this: he pretends phasing out oil and gas was someone else’s idea,” Mr. Poilievre wrote on X. “For a decade he was the worldwide CEO of the idea. He built his entire persona around Net Zero.”Mr. Poilievre asked why there are hundreds of projects waiting for federal approval, and why the government has “not scrapped a single Trudeau-era anti-development law.” He argued that the government should “free our businesses from all carbon taxes” and “red tape” to “unlock” energy production.

Mark Carney Abandons Trudeau’s ‘Divisive’ Climate Policies, Ahead of Separation Vote in Oil-Rich Alberta

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