Alberta premier won’t play games with US on Keystone

Alberta Premier Alison Redford said she isn’t interested in proposing stricter rules on carbon emission for crude oil producers unless the U.S. does the same.

Redford, who has pressed the U.S. to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would carry crude from her Canadian province to Gulf Coast refineries, said she won’t play games over the process.

During the five-year environmental review process for Keystone, talk has circulated that, if Canada imposed tougher rules on its industry to cut back emissions, it would bolster chances of the U.S. approving the TransCanada pipeline.

But Redford wouldn’t offer up the concession, referring to the idea as a game of chicken.

{mosads}”This isn’t a game of chicken,” Redford told Bloomberg News. “We’re not going to start introducing anything that puts us at a competitive disadvantage when other jurisdictions aren’t prepared to take any steps.”

Redford’s government has considered different proposals like raising a carbon tax for the biggest polluters, but they wouldn’t come to fruition unless the U.S. regulates its industry as well.

Opponents of Keystone XL say the pipeline would unlock Alberta’s oil sands, emitting vast amounts of carbon and helping accelerate climate change.