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Innovation, Not Regulations, Credited for Nearly 10 Years of Declining Emissions in Alberta


Alberta’s environment minister emphasizes that the province’s decreasing emission rates over the past nine years have been a result of innovation rather than regulations. She pointed to a recent national report that indicated Alberta was one of four provinces that had successfully reduced emissions in the previous year.

“Our per-barrel emissions are in decline, electricity emissions are in decline, methane emissions are in decline, all while production and demand continues to rise,” Minister Rebecca Schulz stated in a May 3 post on X (formerly Twitter).

“We achieved this through investing in innovation and technology, rather than punitive rules and regulations.”

Minister Schulz mentioned that the province could accomplish more with support from the federal government.

“We are leading globally in responsible energy development and could do even more with federal government support,” the environment minister expressed in an official statement.

“This was evident on May 1, when Alberta’s Capital Power had to halt its Genesee carbon capture and storage project due to economic infeasibility caused by lack of support from Ottawa. The responsibility for this lies entirely with the Prime Minister,” Ms. Schulz added.

Edmonton-based Capital Power announced the discontinuation of the project due to economic feasibility issues.

“Capital Power plans to explore CCS [carbon capture and storage] at Genesee and other assets in our North American fleet in the future as economic conditions improve,” the company stated in its first quarter results summary.

Ms. Schulz criticized Ottawa for not fulfilling funding commitments towards carbon capture projects and other technologies like the Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS).





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