California clean air standards a danger to Canadian oil industry

Associated Press, Canadian Press, CBC ^ | 08JUN07 | Associated Press

[familyop]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Clean-air agreements signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and two Canadian provinces could dramatically slow oil production in the Alberta tar sands.

Ontario and British Columbia have agreed to adhere to California's low-carbon fuel standards, which means the provinces will have to curb oil production sources that create high amounts of global-warming emissions.

The agreements require a 10-per-cent reduction of greenhouse gas output from gasoline and diesel fuels by 2020.

Nine other U.S. northeastern states, plus Illinois, Quebec and Manitoba are all expected to sign on to California's low-carbon fuel standard, which will shrink the market for Alberta's oil industry.

In recent years Canada has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the leading source of U.S. oil imports. Alberta's tar sands include an estimated 174 billion barrels of proven reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia.

The authors of California's new standard say oil companies must adapt or risk losing business.

"This sends a wake-up call to the tar sands industry and they're going to have to clean up their emissions if they want to sell to British Columbia, Ontario, California and pretty soon the rest of the United States and Canada," said Ian Bruce, a climate change specialist at the David Suzuki Foundation in Vancouver.

[familyop]

Here's news of another importer exercise in futility. ...more dependence on oil from the Middle East, anyone?

[mimaw]

Another horse$hit idea out of that state.

[agere_contra]

And I thought Oil was fungible.

[nicepaco]

It sure is. Doesn’t matter much who they sell it to.

[twonie]

I agree it is a horse hockey idea, but if it screws the canadians, with their holier than thou attitudes about global temperature change and general cleanliness, so much the better. Let them see if they can REALLY live on that smugness which they have stockpiled up there.

[tophat9000]

The pisser is the US has far more oil sand to tap then Canada... but we don't use it

[familyop]

United States taps Alberta oilsands expertise

University of Alberta
By Gordon Jaremko, CanWest News Service

"An estimated 10 billion barrels could be produced with known, limited American oilsands technology -- enough to satisfy all current U.S. oil demand for 16 months."

Work on U.S. Oil Sands Heating Up
Smithsonian/NASA ADS General Science Abstract Service (abstract hosted at Harvard)

...and much more information available from a quick search.

[familyop]

From the article:
"Ontario and British Columbia have agreed to adhere to California's low-carbon fuel standards,..."

Alberta is more conservative. Other provinces put the squeeze on Alberta through Ottawa. I don't agree with dumping on our domestic neighbors in the US or Canada for the sake of Islamo-fascist regimes and jealousies from leftist corporates who ride on third world imports and cheap labor.

[familyop]

BTW, we’ll consume that Canadian oil regardless of what is done to raise the costs of producing it. Making the price higher will only hurt us—especially when overseas freight fuel (for getting oil from the Middle East) goes way up.