A new report commissioned by an industry lobby group on the federal government’s proposed emissions cap stirred up strong reactions from both oil and gas supporters and environmental groups on Monday.
The report, by S&P Global Commodity Insights, was commissioned by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers to examine the impact of various proposed emissions-reducing policies on Canada’s conventional (non-oilsands) oil and gas producers.
Its conclusions Monday were used to support the industry argument that legislating an emissions ceiling will inhibit investment and growth, even as opponents argued the report’s methodology was flawed.
The commissioned report concludes that if oil and gas drillers were required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, industry could see $75 billion less in capital investment over the course of the next nine years compared with current policy conditions.
From what I’ve read, carbon capture is, at best, an effective part of a transition away from reliance on fossil fuels as we systemically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, at worst, a bogus intervention, designed to distract populations from the larger necessary task of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and perpetuate the idea that we’re not facing crisis and can stay the course of doing little.
Tl;Dr: when fossil fuel companies talk about carbon capture, they’re lying and distracting from the real issues in order to keep doing what they’re doing