Regulator Stopped Enforcing Gas Flaring Limits After Alberta Pressure: Docs [1]
"Canada aims to end routine flaring by 2030, despite increased flaring in Alberta"
"The regulator in charge of environmental enforcement in Alberta bent to pressure from the provincial government and oil companies to eliminate a limit on natural gas flaring as Canadian oil production increased, according to documents seen by Reuters.
Alberta's dismantling of its 20-year-old flaring limit after companies blew through the limit two years in a row, with no objections from the federal government, is an example of the challenges Canada faces in reconciling its environmental commitments with a renewed focus on economic growth.
The documents, obtained through access to information laws, show the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) sent letters to 20 companies in the spring of 2024 threatening to enforce flaring limits "which could have resulted in curtailed oil production” if the operators did not prepare and implement plans for lowering their flaring volumes."