The federal government’s proposed climate test for pipeline projects is unclear and may make it impossible for any project to fail the test, UBC political science professor Kathryn Harrison wrote in a Vancouver Sun op-ed.
The test fails to consider the downstream emissions that occur when oil is burned, which makes up more than 80 per cent of the emissions from a barrel of bitumen, Harrison said. It also doesn’t factor in how a project’s emissions increase affects Canada’s national target.
“The federal government must clarify the principles that will guide its decisions as to whether projects pass or fail the climate test,” said Harrison.
