Alberta budget weakens environmental, climate monitoring: Opposition

As Alberta prepares to release details on its newclimate plan, critics are wondering about funding cuts toenvironmental monitoring and greenhouse gas management alreadyspelled out in last week's budget.

"We will have diminished capacity," said Marlin Schmidt, NewDemocrat environment critic. "We won't know if we're meetingenvironmental standards or not."

Departmental business plans indicate the office of science andmonitoring within Alberta Environment is to take a five per cent cutnext year, to just under $74 million. That's the office thatoversees the overall impact of industrial development in theprovince, including the oilsands.

The office is to still receive a $50-million levy from industryspecifically for oilsands monitoring.

• Scientists sound alarm over Alberta's new approach to tracking oilsands pollution
• Alberta ending separate offices for climate change, environmental monitoring

The emissions management office is to take a 20 per cent cut by2023. That office is partly responsible for measuring and verifyinggreenhouse gas emissions, as well as for checking compliance withother environmental regulations.

"All of those things are significantly diminished," saidShannon Phillips, a New Democrat member of the legislature who wasthe former environment minister.

Alberta Environment spokeswoman Jess Sinclair said the emissionsmanagement cuts are related to the United Conservative Party's newplan to cut carbon.

Sinclair also pointed to a $2-million increase in capitalspending for scientific monitoring, most of it through an equipment donation from utility company Epcor.

"Science and environmental monitoring funding is in place sothat Albertans can rest assured that their air, surface waters,groundwater, land, wildlife and fisheries are protected," she wrotein an email Monday.

The budget also includes spending cuts at the agency responsiblefor approving and assessing energy development in the province. TheAlberta Energy Regulator is to lose about 22 per cent of its budget.

"Reducing both environmental monitoring programs and our energyregulator capacity does not make us a world-class resource andenvironmental manager," said Ben Israel, an analyst with thePembina Institute, which is a clean-energy think tank.

The United Conservative government is currently examining theregulator's operations.

Details of climate plan coming Tuesday

Schmidt suggests Albertans will have to increasingly rely onindustry self-reporting.

"I don't think that's their job," he said. "It should be thegovernment of Alberta who manages and reports on our climate changestrategy."

The province is to release details of its new climate changepolicy on Tuesday. The plan will not contain a carbon tax. But it isexpected to impose a levy on large industrial emitters for everytonne of carbon that exceeds a regulatory benchmark.

The details of how that benchmark will be set and what the costwill be haven't been announced, although most expect it to be $30 atonne.

Earlier this month, the government told Environment Departmentemployees that it was ending stand-alone offices for climate changeand environmental monitoring.

Opposition members of the legislature warned at the time that themoves were a prelude to funding cuts.