Canada's Alberta making credible shift to reduce emissions -federal minister

By Mike De Souza
CALGARY, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Canada's oil-rich province of
Alberta is making a credible shift toward a low carbon economy,
Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine
McKenna said on Wednesday, as her government prepares for the
upcoming Paris climate talks.
McKenna, who was on her first domestic trip in Canada since
her appointment by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on
Nov. 4, made the comments after a series of meetings with
Alberta's environment minister, Shannon Phillips, as well as
with environmentalists and energy company representatives.
Alberta is expected to unveil a climate change strategy
within the next week offering details of plans to phase out
coal-fired electricity and tackle rising emissions from its oil
and gas industry. McKenna has pledged to release details of
Canada's national plan and targets early in 2016.
"Alberta has put thought into it and they are going to show
what they believe is a way that they can credibly do their
part," McKenna said. "They understand the need to move to a low
carbon economy, but also ensuring that the economic climate is
still very positive."
Alberta is the largest source of U.S. crude imports, but its
oil sands industry is also Canada's fastest growing source of
greenhouse gas emissions.
The province's energy sector has also been hammered with
thousands of layoffs in recent months due to slumping global oil
prices. Some industry representatives have urged the federal and
provincial governments not to exacerbate the problem with more
stringent environmental standards.
But McKenna said there was a general agreement about the
importance of lowering emissions in her meetings on Wednesday,
including a round table discussion with environmentalists and
representatives from energy companies such as Cenovus CVE.TO ,
Suncor Energy SU.TO and Enbridge Inc ENB.TO .
"The oil sands are an important part of the Canadian economy
right now and the Alberta economy. But we need to be moving
toward renewables, toward a low-carbon economy," said McKenna.
"We are going to look at how we can support Alberta so
that... we do not end up in a place where we have catastrophic
climate change."
A Cenovus spokesman described the round-table discussion as
"positive" while an Enbridge spokesman said that the company
appreciated meeting the minister and looked forward to further
discussions.