Premier Smith fumes over feds’ planned emissions caps

Alberta premier Danielle Smith is not holding back in response to the federal government’s planned oil and gas emissions cap.

Ottawa unveiled details Monday on how it plans to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector fulfilling a 2021 election promise from the Liberals to force the oil and gas industry to do its share in battling climate change.

The new regulations will require producers in Canada to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years.

In a news conference in response to the plan, a clearly angry Smith called the plan a “production cap” that will only hurt the country’s economy and vowed to fight the regulations.

“I’m pissed, I’m absolutely angry,” said Smith. “We’ve been working with these guys for two years, we have a plan that would reduce emissions responsibly by 2050.”

“They continue to act like they are working collaboratively with us, and then they come out with exactly the same policy that they put forward a year ago.”

Smith says her government will continue to fight the cap, which she claims will cause 150,000 workers across the country to lose their jobs and cost $28 billion in lost GDP.