On Friday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on the nation’s main oil-producing province of Alberta to spend more of its budget on tax credits to scale carbon capture.
As the nation’s largest fossil fuels producer, Alberta is also one of the heaviest emitters of greenhouse gasses, including carbon dioxide.
Hence, if Canada is to meet its climate objectives and help mitigate global warming, scaling up climate tech, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a necessary step that requires more attention.
In an interview for Reuters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed out that Alberta has been reluctant to spend money on anything that has to do with climate change.
And, he added, provinces with a budget surplus have a role to invest in their future and that of their workers.
Canada’s oil and gas sector has been waiting for an increase of the April 2022 federal budget ever since the United States passed its Inflation Reduction Act last year.
Relevant: Canada Looks To Compete With US Carbon Capture Incentives
Canada has the world’s third-largest oil reserves and is also in the top five natural gas producers globally, and the country’s fossil fuel industry has said it will take more government rebates to help scale up CCS.
On the other hand, however, Alberta’s new premier, Danielle Smith, passed legislation that allows the province to change any federal laws it disapproves of, particularly such that may be considered threatening to its energy sector.
The Canadian government has announced plans to introduce a law this year that would help workers in the energy industry transition to green energy jobs, which Smith claims will “shut down our energy industry”.
Read more: Canada Oilsands Group To Invest $16.5B In Carbon Capture Technology
