Canada-U.S. carbon strategy must match: minister

Any efforts Canada might make toward greenhouse gas reduction must depend on what the U.S. does, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Friday in Edmonton.

"If the United States does not make substantial efforts, going forward, there is nothing that Canada can do, on our own," Prentice said.

"Our own mitigation efforts will be futile as a practical matter. In fact, we should probably at that point simply focus on adaptation."

Speaking to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Prentice said one of the most important measures is agreeing on a price for carbon emission credits for both countries.

"It makes no sense to have a price on carbon, which is one of the fundamental drivers of our economy, and to try to price it differently in Canada than the United States. It will not work."

Prentice's comments come before a new session of global climate change talks set for Copenhagen next month. He said he was not optimistic a world-wide agreement could be reached.

"Instead, our government and the United States government will be aiming for a still-ambitious, but we believe more responsible, goal: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as fast as possible without killing the economy and without resulting in a situation where the cure is worse than the disease."

The minister's comments did not sit well with Mike Kennedy, senior resource economist with the Calgary-based Pembina Institute.

"What's surprising is that Canadians have shown that they want true leadership on climate change," Kennedy said. "And Prentice has made it clear that they're going to wait to hear what [U.S. President Barack] Obama does. Obama wasn't elected in Canada."

Kennedy said the U.S. is way ahead of Canada when it comes to supporting and developing renewable energy supplies and pushing energy conservation. And that, he said, will also put them in a more favourable light at the talks in Copenhagen.

"One of the biggest concerns is that Prentice indicated we don't want to move too quickly on climate change policy, because we would adversely affect the West," Kennedy said.

"And what the recent report released by the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation found was that the Alberta economy would still grow by 40 per cent in the next decade with ambitious climate targets."