MONCTON, N.B. - Canada's premiers shied away from ganging up on Alberta and its booming petroleum industry as they tackled the divisive issue of greenhouse gas emissions at their annual meeting on Thursday.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach emerged from the closed-door sessions with his provincial colleagues unbowed and unscathed as he defended his province's go-slow approach to emission control.
Stelmach said some of his colleagues tried to persuade him to look at a broad-based system of emission caps and credit trading.
"No one was successful in convincing me,'' he said bluntly.
Stelmach has been on the defensive at the annual premiers' get-together, warning his colleagues not to mess with his province's oil boom.
Alberta is the largest producer of greenhouse gases in Canada, thanks in large measure to fever-pitch development of the oilsands.
Stelmach said Alberta is under the gun to feed the soaring world energy market, which gobbles up oil at the rate of 1,000 barrels a second.
"How can we produce the amounts that are being demanded around the world and lower the environmental footprint, especially in carbon dioxide production?'' Stelmach said.
He defended Alberta's climate action plan, which relies on intensity-based targets rather than hard caps on emissions. An intensity system is based on using energy more efficiently without necessarily reducing actual greenhouse gas emissions.
Stelmach said the province also will focus on reducing consumer demand for energy.
Several provinces at the meeting have endorsed or are studying a so-called cap-and-trade system. Proponents believe it is the only realistic way to achieve meaningful emission reduction.
"We think that's a prerequisite to have a mechanism in place to ratchet down greenhouse gas emissions,'' said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, a vocal supporter of cap and trade.
Under a cap-and-trade system, participants set a percentage-based emissions cap that they must meet together. If one of them produces emissions below the cap, it may sell its "excess'' emissions to another participant that produces more than the cap allows.
Stelmach received a boost earlier Thursday from Premier Danny Williams who said Alberta needs to be given time and space to balance the demands of industry and the environment.
The Newfoundland and Labrador premier agreed with Stelmach's assertion that Alberta's oil boom is benefiting all of Canada.
"We don't want to slay the goose that lays the golden egg,'' Williams said.
"We have to be fair to Alberta.''
Stelmach said he appreciated Williams' support.
"He understands fully that we're going to get there over time through technology,'' he said. "We can't do this overnight. Give us five 10, 15 years to show progress.''
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell said no premier can force anything on another premier, but he insisted he is looking for action from the provinces on climate change.
At the very least, Campbell said he wants the premiers to agree to California's tough tailpipe emission standards and a national climate registry in which all provinces use the same methodology to measure greenhouse gases.
A more detailed report on the premiers' environmental discussions will be released Friday.
All of the premiers arrived at the summer retreat with their own agendas and pet projects for greenhouse gas control, so the opportunity for consensus was always remote.
A coalition of environmental groups said the premiers have an historic opportunity to show leadership on the environment, since the federal government has been widely criticized for its climate change plans.
"There's a lot of momentum at the provincial level, which we are hoping will translate into progress here in Moncton,'' said Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation.
"But we need to see hard commitments. The one missing piece has to do with regulation, especially with respect to industrial emissions.''
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham has faced tough questions at the conference since he is actively promoting the construction of a second oil refinery in New Brunswick while also promising to protect the environment.
Environmentalists say pollution from the proposed second oil refinery, in addition to the burning of coal tar at a large power plant in the province, would nullify the premier's emission reduction plans.
