Knowing the emissions impact of pipelines is important in overall decision: Carr

OTTAWA – Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the federal government has no intention of scaling back its push to study all emissions impacts from new pipeline proposals.

Carr is commenting a week after Trans Canada Corp., said it would suspend an application to build its $15.7 billion Energy East pipeline to re-evaluate its business case after the National Energy Board laid out a tougher review process that will include looking at indirect emissions related to the pipeline, from production to end use.

The minister says the government made clear in January 2016 that greenhouse gas emissions would be reviewed as part of an interim overhaul of the environmental assessment process, pending a full review and restructuring.

That review was completed earlier this year and a decision on the permanent process is expected this fall.

Carr says the government is not bending on including emissions as a factor to be considered when deciding if a project is in the national interest.

He says the interim principles helped inform the government’s decision to give the green light to projects like the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion and it’s up to the company, not the government, to decide if the market forces are there to continue with any particular project.