Opinion: Alberta should scrap misleading emissions-cap campaign

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The Government of Alberta’s new $7-million “Scrap the Cap” campaign amounts to a disinformation effort against regulating oil and gas pollution, wasting taxpayer dollars at a time when thousands of Albertans are without a family doctor and public teachers are losing their jobs, among other public services that are collapsing due to a lack of government funding.

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It is not surprising that Premier Danielle Smith is against regulating oil and gas companies. It is not surprising that she continues to use the public purse to fund oil and gas interests. No doubt when the draft regulations are announced, no one will be surprised when she launches a taxpayer-funded lawsuit against the federal government despite Ottawa having solid jurisdiction over emissions regulation.

And here’s the rub.

A majority of Albertans want oil and gas companies regulated using an emissions cap. Albertans, like most Canadians, want major polluters to do their fair share. If everyday Canadians are cutting back their emissions by moving to electric vehicles and heat pumps, why should the country’s largest polluter be allowed to continually grow its emissions?

However, Smith’s campaign, like her public statements on the cap, seem intended to mislead the public. She refers to the regulation as an “energy production cap,” when it is specifically focused on capping oil and gas emissions through feasible mechanisms like methane reductions and electrification (among other options).

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The Government of Alberta claims that Albertans will lose 150,000 jobs because of the emissions cap, but conflicting reports show that a “net-zero” Canada would create 700,000 more energy jobs than currently exist today because of the growth in renewables. Just because we lose jobs in one sector doesn’t mean we can’t create jobs in sustainable industries and support workers through the transition.

But Smith’s ad campaign isn’t about protecting workers. It’s designed to keep oil and gas companies and their shareholders profitable. Her jobs argument falls apart when you consider that 2022 and 2023 were two of the most profitable years for the oil and gas industry, yet companies like Suncor continue to announce layoffs after layoffs.

Smith has no effective plan of her own to drive down emissions, yet the oil and gas industry is responsible for roughly a third of Canada’s total emissions. While emissions in other sectors have dropped since 2005, oil and gas emissions have grown by 11 per cent, and oilsands emissions, specifically, have grown by 142 per cent, but that’s just based on industry-reported numbers. New research found that oilsands emissions could be 6,300 per cent higher than reported by industry, which means the problem could be much bigger than the public is being told.

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The cost of inaction is high, as climate change makes natural disasters like drought, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and hailstorms more frequent and more severe. Recent findings show that 37 per cent of the area burned across Canada and the United States from 1986 to 2021 were linked to emissions from 88 fossil fuel companies and cement manufacturers. In 2023, Canada had its worst wildfire season on record, and 2024 has officially become the costliest year in Canadian history for insured losses due to severe weather events – costing over $7.7 billion in damages.

Without an emissions cap and mandated reductions in place, our current policies are not strong enough to achieve the emissions reductions needed to meet our climate goals and protect Albertans from worsening climate impacts. The oil and gas industry refuses to cut its emissions willingly, despite what they say while Premier Smith continues to do their bidding. Scrap the cap? How about, cut the crap.

Phillip Meintzer is a conservation specialist with Alberta Wilderness Association.