NorthAmOil: Re-elected Alberta premier warns Trudeau on climate change

Alberta premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party (UCP) won re-election in the provincial oil patch’s elections on May 29. And Smith, a conservative, immediately lambasted the climate change policies of Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In a tightly fought contest, Smith’s populist right-wing party beat the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) and its leader, Rachel Notley.

The UCP will have a substantially smaller number of legislators, and will face more of a balancing act with NDP on issues such as healthcare and cost of living. 

Canada’s has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves. Around four-fifths of its 4.9mn barrels per day (bpd) of crude comes from Alberta’s oil sands. Oil and gas accounts for almost 30% of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Climate change is a sensitive issue in Alberta, especially given that extraction and processing of the oil sands crude is more polluting than conventional oil.

Trudeau wants a net-zero electricity grid by 2035 and his government is seeking to cut emissions by 40-45% by 2030, a goal the country is not yet on track to meet. UCP wants to delay the date to 2050, saying the costs otherwise would be too high.

The Liberal government in Ottawa has also said it will have to cap oil and gas emissions to meet its emissions goal, a tack fiercely opposed by Smith and her backers.