VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Alberta's premier warned Monday the oil-rich Canadian province cannot be pushed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions too quickly without hurting Canada's national economy.
Premier Ed Stelmach also defended his decision to miss a special meeting on climate change being held Tuesday by the country's other provincial leaders, some whom have complained Canada must move faster on global warming.
The premiers are in Vancouver for two days of meetings on a range of subjects, but climate change is seen as the key issue facing the leaders who are under increasing pressure to develop a unified strategy on global warming.
Environmentalists say Canada cannot realistically cut national emission levels without doing it in Alberta, already a key source of oil for the United States and where more than $100 billion in new energy projects are planned.
"Today the economy of Canada is dependent to a large part on the economy of Alberta. If we were to race everyone and immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would mean a total shutdown of the oil sands," Stelmach said.
The premier said Alberta would be well represented at Tuesday's meeting by his environmental minister.
Stelmach said he briefed the other premiers on the province's plan announced last week to bring Alberta's carbon emissions 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2050, mostly through capture and storage of the gases blamed for global warming.
Critics of the plan say it would actually allow emissions to rise until around 2020 as oil output from the oil sands triples, and contrasts with proposals from other provinces that would cut emissions in that same period.
The other premiers refused to criticize Stelmach.
"Each province is stepping up to bat," New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham said.
Some of the provinces are at odds with the federal government, which has said it will cut carbon emissions by up to 65 percent of 2006 levels by 2050 but warned against ideas such as imposing carbon taxes on polluters.
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, whose province has one of the most aggressive reduction goals, downplayed the potential of a rift with Ottawa and warned against demanding all provinces adopt the same strategy.
"In a country as large as Canada, if we wait for unanimity, we paralyze ourselves with inaction," Campbell said.
Some business leaders have warned that allowing the provinces to pursue different strategies could hurt the economy by forcing industries such as auto makers to deal with conflicting rules and regulations.
Feeds