Canada approves Petronas’ LNG project, but with a catch
New LNG project will have a hard cap placed on its CO2 emissions
The federal government has approved Petronas’ C$11 billion (US$8.3) Pacific NorthWest LNG project in Prince Rupert, but there’s a catch.
Petronas will need to shave 900,000 million tonnes of CO2 from the project’s emissions, and all other major industrial projects from now on will also have hard caps placed on them for greenhouse gases.
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced at a press conference at the Sea Island Coast Guard station in Richmond Tuesday, September 27, that the PNW LNG was approved for an environmental certificate.
But in approving the project, McKenna also announced a hard cap on that will require the project to reduce emissions by 20 per cent.
“I’ve always said this: When you have major projects, they have to fit in with our national climate plan and part of that is addressing emissions through a price on carbon,” McKenna said.
She added the BC government’s commitment to eventually start raising its carbon tax in synch with whatever price the federal government eventually sets factored into her decision.