• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance June 29, 2022
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Climate & Society Energy Politics

Ottawa to Rethink Methane Reduction Subsidy after Scathing Enviro Commissioner Report

November 28, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes
Full Story: The Canadian Press @CdnPressNews
Primary Author: Mia Rabson @mrabson

Department of Energy/Flickr

Department of Energy/Flickr

1
SHARES
 

A pandemic aid program to help oil and gas companies cut their methane emissions will be revisited now that the industry is back on its feet, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday.

But he said the government won’t consider aid programs that help the fossil fuel sector cut emissions to be the “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” the government has promised to eliminate by the end of 2023, The Canadian Press reports.

The Onshore Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) is under an unflattering spotlight after an audit found it to be poorly designed and not good value for money. Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco’s report released last Thursday criticized the program for poor design, overstating the emissions cuts it could achieve, and possibly double-counting emissions that would have been cut without this fund. He also said the program was helping some companies increase their production without accounting for the increase in emissions that would bring.

With only about one-fifth of the program’s C$675-million total already awarded, and the third round of applications not closing until January, DeMarco said there is still time to fix the multiple ways this program is failing.

In Ottawa Friday, Wilkinson said the program was conceived 20 months ago to help oil and gas companies stay afloat at a time when oil prices had tanked.

“What I would say, and I agree with the commissioner on this is, we’re not in the same situation now,” Wilkinson said. “The economic crisis for the oil sector has passed, and now it’s time to actually look at whether this program should continue in its current form.”

In the first weeks of the pandemic, oil prices in Canada took a double whammy hit of plummeting demand as the world came to a standstill, and a production war between Russia and Saudi Arabia that caused a glut in oil supplies. At certain points the benchmark price for Alberta oil was less than zero.

But prices have rebounded, now sitting somewhere north of US$50 a barrel.

Julia Levin, senior program manager for climate and energy at Environmental Defence Canada, said the crisis period for the industry was very short-lived, and industry projects to cut methane are required work under new federal regulations that are in the midst of being implemented.

“There is no evidence that public dollars were needed to help these so-called struggling companies take on spending that they should be doing on their own,” she said.

DeMarco said it’s not clear how many of the projects would have gone ahead without the ERF funding since companies were already required to do the work to meet the new methane regulations. As such, he said it’s not clear how many additional emissions cuts this program has achieved.

Wilkinson said 4.6 million tonnes of emissions were already avoided strictly as a result of the program. Therefore he said it does not qualify as the kind of fossil fuel subsidy the government has promised to eliminate by the end of 2023.

However, DeMarco’s audit found 27 of the first 40 projects funded included claims that the companies would increase their production as a result of the program, largely because the technology it was funding to cut emissions meant they could produce more oil and gas and still meet the new methane regulations.

Wilkinson said the government only sees as financial aid to fossil fuel companies as a problem if it creates incentives for “the exploration and the production of fossil fuels.”

“Let me be clear, though,” he added. “What (Ottawa’s definition of a fossil fuel subsidy) does not mean is investments that the government may make alongside energy sector partners to reduce emissions. So things like carbon capture and sequestration are not inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 26, 2021.



in Canada, CCS & Negative Emissions, Community Climate Finance, Energy Politics, Legal & Regulatory, Methane, Oil & Gas, Shale & Fracking, Tar Sands / Oil Sands

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Keith Hirsche
Jobs & Training

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
119
London Eye UK England
Cities & Communities

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
57
Number 10/flickr
International Agencies & Studies

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
75

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1.1k
Keith Hirsche

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
119
Number 10/flickr

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
75
London Eye UK England

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
57
Konrad Summers/Kern West Oil Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Imperial Oil Backs Lithium Recovery Project in Alberta’s Leduc Oilfield

June 26, 2022
227
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

June 29, 2022
53

Recent Posts

AJEL / Pixabay

Windfall Tax on Food, Fossil, Pharma Giants Would Raise $490B to Solve ‘Catastrophic’ Food Crisis: Oxfam

June 29, 2022
26
futureatlas.com/flickr

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks

June 29, 2022
37
Province of B.C./flickr

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations

June 29, 2022
24
Danielle Scott/flickr

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413

June 29, 2022
45
/Piqsels

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments

June 29, 2022
14
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/flickr

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds

June 29, 2022
17
Next Post
OFL Communications Department/Flickr

NDP MP Hits, Singh Misses on Call for Trans Mountain Shutdown

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}