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Pelosi digs into Canada’s oil sands House Speaker hears from both sides in oil sands debate; leaves Alberta premier in ‘buoyant’ mood and ready to work with US Gary Park For Petroleum News
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco congressional district is the heart of California’s support for low-carbon fuel standards and opposition to imports of crude from the Alberta oil sands, arrived in Canada Sept. 8 with a delegation that included Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and one of the most outspoken critics of “dirty oil,” whose poster child in North America is the oil sands.
Not exactly the makings of a warm and friendly group for a dinner meeting with, among others, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice — all of them solid backers of Canada’s petroleum industry, including the oil sands.
The three-hour session lasted far longer than scheduled and the Canadian leaders emerged in an upbeat mood.
“Boy, after today, I’m excited,” said the normally inhibited Stelmach, who found Pelosi was receptive to getting “both sides of the story.”
The participants even went as far as exploring the possibility of establishing a benchmark for carbon emissions from the oil sands, with Alberta agreeing to provide regular updates on environmental improvements in the oil sands to correct “misinformation.”
“In order to get that certainty, both countries have to get together to work on the targets,” Stelmach told the Globe and Mail. “Saskatchewan and Alberta said we’ll meet those targets and exceed them.”
He said in a statement that, although development of the oil sands has its challenges, he impressed on Pelosi that “Alberta is taking the necessary steps to balance energy security with environmental responsibility and economic growth.”
Foreign oil doesn’t include Canada What buoyed Stelmach was the assurance he received from the U.S. power brokers, including Pelosi’s pledge that the U.S. drive to eliminate its dependence on foreign oil does “does not mean Canada.”
“She does not consider Canada to be foreign oil and I think that’s the reason why she asked a number of questions with respect to our ability to supply (U.S. markets),” he said.
He emerged from the discussion with the “very strong opinion” that Pelosi has no desire to halt oil sands expansion.
However, in case she did harbor any such notions, Stelmach issued a mild warning.
He said Alberta is hopeful of expanding its oil sands exports beyond the U.S. to Asia.
“I just said, ‘Look, there are new trade markets developing,’” in driving home his point that Canada and the U.S. have every reason to maintain a “good trade relationship.”
U.S. trade link important There’s no doubting the importance of that trade link to Alberta, whose energy exports to the U.S. in 2008 were valued at C$79.5 billion, or 72 percent of its total exports from all industries.
Wall, whose province shipped C$6.4 billion in conventional oil to the U.S. last year, said the meeting “went very well.”
He told Pelosi he hoped the U.S. would recognize the importance of procuring petroleum from a close friend and neighbor that is committed to environmental improvements.
“Who would (the U.S.) rather deal with … with a country that is prepared to make investments in the name of the environment, or with others that are less interested?” Wall said.
Bruce Carlson, executive director of the Canada School of Energy and Environment at the University of Calgary, said U.S. legislators must accept that the U.S. will rely on Canadian oil and natural gas for decades to come.
“To start posturing that they are not going to buy from Alberta and they’re going to buy from (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Pelosi: countries share much Pelosi said in a statement that the discussion with the Canadian political leaders confirmed that the two countries “share a strong commitment to addressing climate change and energy security. We share much more than a border, and with respect to our energy future, we are in the same boat,” she said.
“Our discussion focused on more than the oil sands issue. We discussed the need for aggressive research and development on renewable energy and conservation technology.
“Our mutual clean energy goals will drive innovation and create millions of jobs on both sides of the border,” Pelosi said.
No Keystone endorsement What the Canadians didn’t get from Pelosi was any endorsement of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the oil sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries — a project that is encountering stiff opposition from U.S. landowners and environmental activists as they draw strength from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and Enbridge’s pipeline rupture in Michigan.
The addition of 700,000 barrels per day to the existing 590,000 bpd Keystone system needs a cross-border permit from the U.S. State Department before construction can start in early 2011.
Wall said there was “no specific signal on Keystone,” which is a vital link in current plans for oil sands growth.
Gordon Giffin, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada and now a director of Canadian Natural Resources, said the apparently successful dinner might help counteract campaigns by environmentalists to persuade Washington to oppose oil sands development.
“The arguments that have been made in the U.S. are either misrepresenting facts, or flat out distorting facts,” he said, adding the discussions will “enhance the dialogue in the U.S., because the challenge is a lack of information. And the more informed she is, the better the debate is.”
Pelosi heard more viewpoints Sept. 9 in meetings with industry leaders, three Canadian environmental groups and leaders of First Nations communities.
Marlo Raynolds, executive director of the Alberta-based Pembina Institute, said his organization was “gravely concerned” by the refusal of provincial governments to impose hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands operations and enforce limits from oil sands development on air quality, fresh water, wildlife and the boreal forest.
“We do not want to see Alberta get in the way of Canada achieving its new national (emissions reduction) target,” he said.
Raynolds said he was “absolutely impressed” with Pelosi’s conviction on moving the U.S. towards a cleaner energy future. “I wish we had the same (attitude) here in Canada,” he said.
“She spoke very eloquently about the moral imperative for action on climate change in terms of what we owe to future generations and she spoke clearly about God’s creation and the need to honor and respect that,” said Graham Sault, executive director of Climate Action Network Canada, an umbrella organization for environmental, church and labor groups.
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