Canada's Alberta pledges to do more to price carbon and reduce emissions

By Mike De Souza
CALGARY, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Canada's oil-rich western
Canadian province of Alberta said its recent decision to double
its price on carbon emissions was only a first step in its
efforts to tackle climate change, Premier Rachel Notley said on
Thursday.
Notley said her left-leaning New Democratic government,
which ended 44 years of Conservative rule in a May election,
would introduce details of its climate change plan "very soon."
Alberta, the largest source of U.S. crude imports, owns the
planet's third largest known crude reserves. But its
energy-intensive oil sands industry is also frequently a target
of environmentalists since it is Canada's fastest growing source
of greenhouse gas emissions.
Notley said her climate change plan would introduce an
energy efficiency strategy and encourage utility companies to
use natural gas and renewable energy to replace coal as a source
of electricity. The province would also go beyond its June
decision to toughen its carbon pricing regulations so that both
Canada and Alberta have stronger policies heading into an
upcoming United Nations climate change summit in Paris, she
added.
"That was a good start, but more needs to be done," said
Notley in a speech in Toronto to the Broadbent Institute, a
left-leaning think tank. "So we will do what needs to be done.
So that Alberta - and Canada - can stand before the world in
December in Paris, and for decades to come, as one of the
world's most progressive and environmentally responsible energy
producers."
Notley said the failure of previous federal and provincial
governments to tackle climate change is harming Canada's economy
since its environmental reputation is now affecting the oil
industry's ability to get new customers and pipelines, as was
the case with the Obama administration's recent decision to
reject TransCanada Corp 's TRP.TO Keystone XL pipeline.
"Ignoring climate change is a blind alley for both the
energy business, and for the province of Alberta," she said.
Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has
also pledged to improve Canada's climate change record and
invited Notley and other premiers to the Paris summit. But
Trudeau's government has not yet unveiled details, saying that
it wants to work with the provinces to find the right solutions.