Canada pressures EU to take dirty fuel

OTTAWA -- “Canada is becoming a global peddler of carbon-intensive, climate changing fuel.  Last week we saw Canadian officials pressuring South Africa to build a mega coal-fired power plant and now the European Union is being pressured to weaken its proposed environmental standards for fuel,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.

Draft EU standards restricted dirty fuel from the Canadian tar sands, in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases.  Due to Canadian pressure tactics, there is a possibility that these restrictions may not be included in the final standards. Tar sands extraction is more than five times more intensive than conventional sources. 

Canadian Ambassador Ross Hornby has written letters to the EU, stating that per barrel emission from the tar sands has been reduced.  He failed to mention that overall emissions have risen precipitously—more than tripling since 1990.

The Green Party calls on Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis to cease these lobbying efforts and instead immediately implement a plan to clean up the tar sands. 

“This effort to water down EU regulations is yet another example of a government who is unwilling to acknowledge the urgent need to deal with the climate crisis.  Canada continues to subsidize the planet’s most carbon-intensive oil – crude from the Athabasca tar sands – and now we are trying to force other countries to be a party to this destructive practice,” said May. 

Contact Information:
Debra Eindiguer
Press Secretary
C: 613.240.8921
media@greenparty.ca