The European Parliament has narrowly rejected a revised fuel quality directive that would have labelled imported crude oil, including product from the Alberta tar sands/oil sands, according to its carbon intensity.
“More elected parliamentarians actually voted to reject the new fuel quality directive than accept it,” AP reports this morning. “However their numbers fell short of the absolute majority needed to overturn the proposed deal.”
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The EU set a course to diluting the directive in early October after a “five-year siege by Canadian officials and industry lobbyists,” according to one environmental NGO. But “for those paying attention, there were clear signs the fight was not over,” iPolitics reported Monday. “The European Parliament’s environment committee pushed back hard, voting to reject the new fuel-quality rules and send them back to the European Commission for renegotiation.”
“Especially now that we are negotiating a global deal on climate change, it sends completely the wrong signal,” said Dutch committee member Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy.
Citing Ottawa investigative reporter Mike DeSouza, iPolitics’ Bruce Cheadle writes that the Canadian government “set aside $30 million in 2013 to be spent over two years on an ‘international stakeholder and outreach campaign’” to protect market access for Canadian energy and mining resources.’”
