Grant Bishop – Ottawa’s Carbon-price Backstop Is Not Out Of The Constitutional Woods
To: The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change; and the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice From: Grant Bishop Date: May 6, 2019 Re: Ottawa’s carbon-price backstop is not out of the constitutional woods On Friday, a three-to-two majority of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of the federal carbon pricing backstop. However, any […] Moving the Coal-Posts: Ottawa’s Wrong Turn on Carbon Pricing for Electricity Generation
April 23, 2019 – New federal government carbon pricing regulations for electricity generators will reduce the average carbon cost for coal plants, while decreasing incentives for cleaner wind, solar and hydro projects, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. As phase two of the carbon-pricing “backstop”, originally enacted in 2018 under the Greenhouse […] Brian Livingston – Alberta can boost revenues from crude production by giving financial assistance for rail transport
From: Brian Livingston To: Concerned Albertans Date: April 4, 2019 Re: Alberta can boost revenues from crude production by giving financial assistance for rail transport Curtailment of heavy oil production and shipment by rail have been in the news recently, and the link between them bears examination as the Alberta government and industry decide on […] Fenner Stewart – Supreme Court decision in Redwater was the right result but does not solve Alberta’s orphan well problem
From: Fenner Stewart To: The Hon. Margaret McCuaig-Boyd, Alberta Minister of Energy Date: March 28, 2019 Re: Supreme Court Redwater Decision was the Right Result but does not Solve Alberta’s Orphan Well Problem The Orphan Well Association v. Grant Thornton (the so-called Redwater) case considered whether Alberta’s mechanism for funding oil and gas well reclamation […] Measuring and Managing the Unknown: Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Value Chain
Tracking and reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations needs an innovative approach, according to new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Measuring and Managing the Unknown: Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Value Chain” authors Sarah Marie Jordaan and Kate Konschnik highlight the growing pressure on industry and policymakers to address […] A.J. Goulding – Sunk Costs Are Dragging Canadian Electricity Ratepayers Underwater
From: A.J. Goulding To: Provincial Ministers of Energy Date: March 4, 2019 Re: Sunk Costs Are Dragging Canadian Electricity Ratepayers Underwater Cost-overruns at several large-scale hydro projects in Canada raise questions about the economic viability of continuing construction to completion. As discussed in the C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, government decisions to make such large investments in hydroelectric generating […] Grant Bishop – Federal cabinet must get TMX right this time
To: The Hon. Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources From: Grant Bishop Date: February 27, 2019 Re: Federal cabinet must get TMX right this time On Friday, the National Energy Board released its reconsideration report on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline project, finding that the project was likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects but that […] The Flawed Bill C-69 Will Worsen, Rather Than Solve, The Crisis In Canada’s Resources Sector – Globe And Mail Op-ed
My flight back west was delayed at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, and I got talking to a Calgary banker, who was also homeward bound after a circuit around Bay Street. “Capital is thin right now,” she said. “Upstream investment for Canadian oil and gas is just a no-go: It’s not a matter of risk premium. No one knows how to price the politics.”
Investment in Canada’s resource sector fell dramatically in the past four years and the outlook for new projects remains depressed. Ottawa has proposed an overhaul under Bill C-69 of the federal environmental assessment for major capital projects, and our Senate is now scrutinizing the legislation.
In a report published on Thursday by the C.D. Howe Institute, Alberta’s former…
Grant Bishop – Ottawa needs a Plan B if courts find only it can regulate GHGs
To: The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change; and the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice From: Grant Bishop Date: February 22, 2019 Re: Ottawa needs a Plan B if courts find only it can regulate GHGs The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal heard oral arguments last week on the constitutionality of the federal government’s carbon […] A Crisis of Our Own Making: Prospects for Major Natural Resource Projects in Canada
Bill C-69 threatens to further depress investment in the natural resources sector and delay projects by unnecessarily exposing them to political risk, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. The planned investment value of major resource sector projects plunged $100 billion between 2017 and 2018, note Grant Bishop and Grant Sprague, authors of […] Dyer, Ragan, Shaffer – After Redwater, Environmental Cleanup Risks Remain
From: Simon Dyer, Chris Ragan and Blake Shaffer To: Alberta taxpayers Date: February 5, 2019 Re: After Redwater, Environmental Cleanup Risks Remain The Supreme Court of Canada last week overturned the Court of Appeal of Alberta’s decision in the closely watched Redwater legal case. The court’s ruling ensures environmental cleanup costs will get priority over creditors when companies go […] Dammed If You Do: How Sunk Costs Are Dragging Canadian Electricity Ratepayers Underwater
Cost-overruns at several large-scale hydro projects in Canada raise questions about the economic viability of continuing construction to completion. In “Dammed If You Do: How Sunk Costs Are Dragging Canadian Electricity Ratepayers Underwater” author A.J. Goulding argues that government decisions to make such large investments in hydroelectric generating capacity must be scrutinized for economic soundness […]