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Ottawa announces plan to phase out ‘inefficient’ fossil fuel subsidies

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2023

Ottawa published its plan for eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies today — making Canada the first country among wealthy, heavy-emitting nations to do so, according to the federal government.

In 2009, the countries that make up the G20 publicly promised to “phase out and rationalize … inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” over the “medium term.”

Such subsidies “encourage wasteful consumption, reduce our energy security, impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change,” said the G20 communique.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault announced the plan in Montreal Monday as Canada continues to grapple with one of the worst wildfire seasons ever recorded and devastating flooding in Nova Scotia.

“We’re eliminating subsidies to produce fossil fuels in Canada, unless those subsidies are aimed at de-carbonizing the emissions of the sector,” Guilbeault said.

The Export Development Canada offices in downtown Ottawa. (David Thurton/ CBC News)

Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Department of Finance developed the guidelines.

Guilbeault said there are exceptions to the government’s new directive. Federal dollars can still flow to fossil fuel projects if they:

Enable significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions
Support clean energy, clean technology and renewable energy
Support Indigenous economic participation in fossil fuel activities
Offer essential energy services to remote communities
Provide short-term support for an emergency
Support abated fossil fuels — oil and gas projects which capture production emissions through carbon capture.

The framework targets government departments, agencies and Crown corporations.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the plan to eliminate what the government calls ‘inefficient’ fossil fuel subsidies has some exceptions. (REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier)

Much of the federal government’s support for the fossil fuel sector comes from Crown corporations like Trans Mountain, the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) and Export Development Canada (EDC).

The advocacy group Environmental Defence estimates about $19 billion in financing for fossil fuels came from EDC in 2022.

Much of that support comes in the form of commercially viable loans. The current policy doesn’t consider those loans a subsidy.

Guilbeault said the government is working on identifying all remaining sources of public financing — including Crown corporations — and will announce a plan to phase those subsidies out by the end of 2024.

Phase-out plan is a ‘half measure’: NDP

A plan to phase out public financing of the fossil fuel sector, including Crown corporations, was a key requirement of the confidence and supply agreement the Liberals arranged with the NDP to support their minority government.

MP Laurel Collins, NDP critic for climate change and the environment, said in a media statement she is “frustrated” with a Liberal plan she described as a “half-measure.”

“The NDP will keep pushing for the immediate elimination of specific fossil fuel subsidies that Liberals left out — like the exploration and development expense deductions for oil and gas — and for a plan to end public financing of the fossil fuel sector,” Collins said.

The environmental advocacy group Environmental Defence said today’s guidelines set a “high benchmark” for other countries in the G20 to follow.

But Julia Levin, associate director of Environmental Defence, said more work must be done to close loopholes in the guidelines. She said the government’s investment tax credit for carbon capture continues to bankroll oil and gas directly.

“There are exemptions that continue to show the influence of big oil on climate policy decisions,” Levin said.

Mixed reviews from Alberta and industry

In a media statement, Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said that while the province is still reviewing the new guidelines, she thinks Ottawa’s focus is misplaced.

“Fossil fuels are not the problem. Emissions are the problem, and Ottawa’s top priority should be working with provinces and finding more effective ways to help industry cut emissions in practical ways across all sectors,” Schulz said.

Energy for a Secure Future, which promotes the natural gas sector, said it doesn’t believe Canada has any inefficient oil and gas subsidies to eliminate.

“These projects are economically viable, and that’s why people are investing their private capital in them,” said Shannon Joseph, a member of the organization’s advisory council.

Joseph said tax measures offered to any other types of business in Canada should also go to the oil and gas sector. She also called on Canadians to remember the role fossil fuels play in our economy and funding our social safety net.

“What Canadians need to know about the energy sector in Canada is that it is a major source of investment and innovation, it is a major source of jobs and GDP, and that the world is still asking us for this energy,” she said.

Others within the industry applauded the exemptions for projects that have Indigenous ownership or reduce emissions.

“We’re pleased to see the guidelines recognize the need for government partnership on projects essential to Canada’s efforts to meet its climate commitments, including the Pathways Alliance’s ambitious proposed carbon capture and storage project,” said Kendall Dilling of Pathways Alliance, an association of oilsands companies.

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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AP MLB:

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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AP tennis:

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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