Danger of U.S. ‘environmental protectionism’ under Obama: U of A prof
CALGARY — A University of Alberta business professor says America isn’t likely to stop imports from Canada’s oilsands but there’s a credible threat from what he calls “environmental protectionism.”
Andrew Leach says there’s a danger of oilsands costs rising even further if the United States adopts more aggressive climate change rules than Canada has.
Leach made his comments ahead of Barack Obama’s visit to Ottawa, his first foreign trip as president of the United States.
Obama has said he supports carbon capture and storage, a technology that prevents emissions from entering the atmosphere by piping them underground.
Both Ottawa and Alberta back carbon capture as a climate change strategy — but there is disagreement over who should pay billions of dollars for it.
Professor Leach says there’s a danger that Washington may levy a special tax on what environmentalists have dubbed “dirty oil” from Alberta’s oilsands.