Alberta Launches Ad Campaign to Oppose Federal Emissions Caps on Oil and Gas Sector

Aerial view of the Suncor mine facility along the Athabasca River in the oilsands near Fort McMurray, Alberta, in a file photo. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

The Government of Alberta has launched a national advertising campaign dubbed “Scrap the Cap” to oppose Ottawa’s carbon emissions limits on the oil and gas industry.

The $7 million campaign will include TV ads, social media posts, print advertisements, and videos. The province rolled out a Scrap the Cap website with the ad campaign on Oct. 15, saying Ottawa’s restrictions will cost 150,000 jobs by 2030 and billions in lost wages.

“Make no mistake, this cap will hit Alberta the hardest. It will devastate our economy,” said Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz at an Oct. 15 news conference. “But we’re not alone. More than 450,000 jobs are directly and indirectly tied to the energy sector across Canada.”

Ottawa released a plan in December 2023 to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of its push to reach net zero by 2050. It seeks to reduce industry emissions by 35 to 38 per cent from 2019 levels by 2030.

Premier Danielle Smith told the press conference her government is acting now to counter any new energy policies introduced by Ottawa before the next election.

“I think that these last few months of the dying government are when they’re the most dangerous,” Smith said. “This is when I would anticipate that if they don’t see a pathway to reelection by being reasonable and working collaboratively, that they’re going to pass all kinds of policy, knowing that it would be complicated and take some time to undo it.”

Ottawa Responds

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a joint statement in response to Alberta’s campaign, saying the federal policy will not limit outputs from the oil and gas sector.

“Our government’s commitment is to drive down pollution from the oil and gas sector, not to cut production,” said the statement. “Canada’s oil and gas industry recognizes this imperative: they know that reducing their pollution is necessary for their own long-term competitiveness.”

The ministers also said that oil and gas companies are making “record profits” and should “be doing their fair share” by investing in green technologies.

Shultz argued that Alberta’s resource companies are achieving emissions reductions goals without the federal regulations.

“Emissions intensity per barrel has already fallen by 23 percent,” she said, a figure she said was expected to double in the next few years. “Our methane emissions reduction target of 45 percent was hit three years ahead of schedule, without a cap.”

Alberta officials referred to a report from the Conference Board of Canada in March that said oil and gas production cuts will be necessary to reach federal targets, and 79 percent of the cuts will be in Alberta.

The report estimated the cap-and-trade system will cost $2,100 in reduced economic activity for each tonne of carbon emissions cut. It said alternatives to production cuts, like investments in carbon capture technologies, will only cost about $100 to $200 per tonne of carbon emissions cut but will take more time to implement and will mean direct costs for companies rather than lost income.

Those findings were challenged in a white paper from the Pembina Institute, an energy policy think tank. It said the Conference Board of Canada’s oil and gas production modelling doesn’t extend past 2030 and “does not appear to account for likely market-based declines in global demand and, therefore, Canadian production post-2030.”

The Conference Board’s conclusion that “a cap on emissions could only be achieved through arbitrary production cuts” isn’t supported “by the broader body of evidence on the likely global market for oil and gas post-2030,” Pembina said.

The latest initiative is not the first time Alberta has targeted Ottawa’s green policy with an advertising campaign.

In September 2023, Smith announced a social media, TV, radio, and print campaign against the federal government’s proposed clean electricity regulations. The campaign suggested consumers visit the website tellthefeds.ca and send a message to their member of Parliament to reject Ottawa’s plan for a net-zero electrical grid by 2035.