Energy East climate change condition rethink

Ontario and Quebec have decided to clear one of the largest single obstacles out of the way of TransCanada Corp.’s CAN$12 billion Energy East pipeline proposal.

The move marks a major victory for Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, who visited his Ontario and Quebec counterparts this week to promote the project.

Kathleen Wynne said last week that she will not consider “upstream” greenhouse-gas emissions – the extra carbon released when Alberta ramps up oilsands production to supply the crude for Energy East – when deciding whether Ontario will back the pipeline.

“No, we’re not talking about upstream emissions,” the Ontario Premier said at Queen’s Park after emerging from a meeting with Mr. Prentice.

Quebec’s Philippe Couillard had the same message a day earlier, contending “it doesn’t add anything to the debate” to consider those emissions.

Ontario's concerns about the environmental impact of the proposed Energy East pipeline have narrowed considerably. Ontario and Quebec had set out seven principles for the pipeline project, which would carry western crude to refineries in eastern Canada, the most notable relating to its potential impact on climate change.

But after meeting Prentice in her office, Wynne said her concerns were limited to greenhouse gas emissions from the pipeline project itself, not from the so-called upstream emissions resulting from getting the crude out of the ground, refining and burning it.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: The Globe and Mail, CTV News.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/08122014/energy-east-climate-change-condition-rethink/