Climate change received steady attention on the campaign trail Tuesday, following a report that Canada is warming faster than the rest of the world.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the country has seen an average temperature increase of 1.7 C since 1948, while the world has seen an uptick of 0.8 C.
The report warned the damage, caused by humans, was “effectively irreversible.”
Parties campaigning to be Alberta’s next government have acknowledged the province is a contributor.
“It's a tough issue and something we have to be concerned about for today's economy, for the health of our kids today, and for the future of our economy going forward,” NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Tuesday while speaking in Calgary.
She said the report backed up her party’s creation of a climate change plan.
If reelected, Notley promised the NDP would diversify the energy sector, continue to phase out coal-generated electricity by 2030, and stay on track with its oilsands emissions cap—a different approach than the United Conservative Party platform.
Leader Jason Kenney has suggested reviewing and possibly dropping out of the Climate Leadership Plan, promising spurred investment in the oilpatch and to remove the taxpayer carbon levy.
He called the plan the “right balance between controlling carbon emissions and allowing our economy to grow.”
“Our levy on major industrial emitters, that would reduce carbon emissions by almost as much as the NDP’s plan with much less economic damage,” Kenney said while also in Calgary on Tuesday.
The Alberta Party has taken a stance similar to the UCP, promising to target major emitters rather than every-day Albertans.
“If we spend more time and more effort on that, we'll be more effective dealing with the greenhouse gas issues,” AP Leader Stephen Mandel told media at an event on Saturday.
A government under Mandel would also stop taxing gas and propane used to heat homes and fuel cars.
However, environmental activist Michael Kalmanovitch said all of the parties need to treat climate change with more urgency.
“The slow train has been coming towards us, and yet, the politicians, the industry, society as a whole, has not reacted to it.”
Oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell has named itself a proponent of Canada implementing market-based carbon pricing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging use of low carbon technology.
Shell is a member of the lobby group Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
In a statement to CTV News, the company said it was urging CAPP to similarly support carbon pricing.
CAPP has taken the position that carbon pricing increases operation costs and thereby discourages investment. However, it told CTV News it “supports climate policies that are effective and efficient in managing greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining a vibrant and competitive oil and natural gas sector.”
With files from Timm Bruch
