This report evaluates what the Paris Agreement on climate change means for the “Big Five” oil sands producers—Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), Suncor Energy, Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil, and Husky Energy—by estimating the social cost of carbon (SCC) of the oil and gas reserves of these firms and by assessing the emissions-reduction disclosures and targets, …

Engaging Saskatchewan’s Oil-Producing Communities on Climate Change Issues Download the study The future of oil extraction and transportation is one of the most contentious issues in Canadian politics. Plans for the construction of new pipelines to both the East and West coasts has entrenched old divisions between Eastern and Western Canada and opened up new …

I sent the following letter to BC’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) in response to Progress Energy’s extraordinary request to retroactively exempt the Lily and Town dams from environmental reviews. Such reviews should have been conducted before the dams were built. Not only did those reviews not happen, but the company also failed to obtain other …

This report examines the history of Alberta energy policies as they apply to development of the oil sands, focusing on the contrasting oil sands policies of premiers Lougheed and Klein, two of Alberta’s most popular premiers and key to oil sands development in the province. The petroleum industry has long had a strong influence on …

This report examines the argument that building pipelines to ‘tidewater’ will unlock new markets where Canadian oil can command a better price than in the US, where the majority of Canadian oil is currently exported, using Kinder Morgans Trans Mountain Extension Project as an example. The research found that problematic assumptions led to the pipeline’s approval by the …

A number of Corporate Mapping Project articles and new research is featured in a special issue of The Monitor, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ bimonthly national magazine. Check out articles by project co-directors Shannon Daub and Bill Carroll, and new pieces by Marc Lee, Emily Eaton and Simon Enoch, Fiona MacPhail and Paul Bowles, and Mike Lang …

Mapping Political Influence examines the political reach of the fossil fuel industry in British Columbia, as evidenced by donations to political parties and lobbying efforts by oil, gas and coal corporations and industry groups. It finds a remarkable and disturbingly close relationship between industry and the provincial government – one that not only contradicts the province’s stated …

This study examines the political reach of the fossil fuel industry in British Columbia, as evidenced by donations to political parties and lobbying efforts by oil, gas and coal corporations and industry groups. It finds a remarkable and disturbingly close relationship between industry and the provincial government – one that not only contradicts the province’s stated aim …

This study re-examines Canada’s contribution to global climate change in light of the Paris Agreement by looking at extracted carbon—the total amount of fossil fuels removed from Canadian soil that ends up in the atmosphere—whether used for domestic purposes or exported and combusted elsewhere. According to the study, Canada’s extracted carbon has risen dramatically, almost …

Our latest study shows a dramatic rise in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel extraction. In 2015 (the most recent year there was data available) Canada’s extraction activities yielded almost 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. If all producer countries act like Canada and continue down this path, we’ll blow right by the targets …

Under the Paris Agreement, Canada has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. This study assesses the consequences of several scenarios of expansion in the oil and gas sector in terms of the amount that the non–oil and gas sectors of the economy would need to reduce emissions …

Under Alberta’s oil sands emissions cap (set at 100 million tonnes per year), growth in oil sands production would be limited to 45% over 2014 levels. There is already more than enough existing pipeline and rail capacity to handle that capacity. The additional pipelines being lobbied for by industry and governments are not necessary.   …