Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 2

lan A2 FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2007 EDMONTON JOURNAL em ss i Coming Saturday Oilpatch calls regulations most stringent on planet But the industry is relieved by absence of hard caps on greenhouse emissions AinCd An intrepid band of Edmonton students are showing eight days and 260 kilometres worth of commitment to a cause this week as they walk from Calgary to Edmonton to raise awareness about the plight of the people of Darfur. A march like this takes a lot of preparation, a lot of bottles of water and many, many Band-Aids. JAMES STEVENSON The Canadian Press CALGARY in Life Are we overprotecting our kids with constant safety warnings? Columnist Sasha Roeder Mah says today's parents are in a quandary over when to introduce their children to the kind of independence and adventures of past generations. CORRECTION Contrary to a headline in Wednesday's journal, it was Liberal MP David McGuinty not the Ontario premier who said that speech notes sent by mistake to the opposition from Environment Minister John Baird's office could affect the stock market. i s.

fsT Sudoku Classic Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive. New federal regulations to reduce greenhouse gases were called the most stringent on the planet Thursday by representatives ofCanada's oilpatch who, nonetheless, took comfort in the absence of hard caps on emissions like those in the Kyoto Accord. "These targets are the toughest targets the oil and gas industry is (going to) face anywhere in the world," said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. However, Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said he believed his government could work with the program. "We're pleased that the federal approach mir-N rors ours," he said.

"It's an intensity-based approach. It's the same approach that we had recommended. Their targets are slightiy higher than ours, but their time frame is further down the road." He said over the next three years, the Alberta government will track how well the provincial and federal programs are working together. One of the biggest areas of concern for the oil-patch focused mainly in Western and Atlantic Canada was that it would be singled out by a federal government hungry for votes in Ontario and Quebec. The Conservative government was careful Thursday to introduce regulations that would apply to all sectors and industries, with a promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent over 2006 levels by 2020.

Greenhouse gas emitters will face a 26-percent reduction by 2015 with targets based on production levels. Reductions of smog-producing emissions like sulphur oxide require a 55 per cent cut within eight years. "So these are very, very significant targets and they're higher than we're facing anywhere else in the world," said Alvarez. The energy industry had been fighting hard emissions caps, preferring "intensity targets" which it says focuses more on efficiency. Alvarez also said more certainty over the rules was important for the energy industry, which has been warning that unknown extra costs mggeredby new emissions regulations, and an ongoing royalty review in Alberta, were shaking investors' confidence in the sector.

It appeared that the federal regulations could be harmonized with Alberta regulations tabled last month that include plans to level financial penalties as of July 1 against big industrial emitters who don't cut emissions by 12 per cent. Those that don't meet the target will have to I2I41 I A3 8.6 A 6 7. 9 8 3 2 6. 2 Z2 JELL RICK MacWILLIAM, THE JOURNAL, FILE Companies spending billions in the oilsands say it's critical their industry not be singled out by new emissions regulations. The Conservative government appears to have heeded their advice.

DIFFICULTY Sudoku solution F1 Mind Games F7 oilpatch not be singled out. "Most people today, if they're unhappy with our sector it's because they don't like paying $1 per litre for gasoline and would like more supply so they could pay less, which would be exactly the wrong thing in a world that's worried about carbon," he said. "So it's not just industry that needs to deal with these issues. All of us have to deal with these pay fines or invest in Alberta projects that help reduce emissions. Alvarez said Thursday that while the new regulations appeared to focus more on large projects, he warned that there would be an unknown "economic cost" that companies will have to factor in when they make decisions on new projects.

Charlie Fischer, chief executive of oil and gas producer Nexen said it was critical thatthe HOW TO CALLUS 1 Lotteries Payday for Apr. 26: 5, 6, 19 and 33 Pick 3 for Apr. 26: 968 Extra for Apr. 26: 5347676 Numbers are unofficial. In the event of a discrepancy between this list and the official numbers list, the latter shall prevail.

Auto industry attacks 'feebates' Analyst says program that gives rebates for fuel efficient cars could cripple sector To subscribe, or for-any home delivery questions please call 498-5500 Or go to edmontonjournal.com and look for the Subscriber Services link in the lower left column. The website services can be used at any time. We do our best to deliver your Journal by 6:30 a.m. weekdays and by 8 a.m. on weekends and holidays.

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Edmonton journal seven-day print subscribers now also have free access to our digital newspaper. If you have a LAURA BOBAK The Canadian Press TORONTO Working it out Charlos Gary will cost taxpayers $14 per litre; of fuel saved. Environment Minister Baird didn't give details Thursday on what the new emissions standards would be, other than they'll be a North American standard. That's a relief to Mark Nantais, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, who said Canadian-specific standards would not be cost effective. If Canada were to adopt California-style regulations, 97 per cent of cars manufactured or sold in Canada wouldn't qualify, Nantais said.

(The California regulations are still not in effect and are being challenged in court.) As for possible price increases, Nantais said the details are too muddy to speculate on the overall impact on the automotive industry. Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, is also against the rebate program, but said he supports Ottawa's move to increase emissions standards. "Thankfully, they didn't harm the industry any further," said Hargrove. "We can live with the announcement that was made today." Our federal Conservative government is doing its utmost best to destroy the auto industry and they obviously don't care about southwestern Ontario. 5 3 Dennis DesRosiers, of Toronto-based DesRosiers Automotive Consultants DesRosiers supported a previous federal government plan which allowed automakers to come up with their own methods to reach an annual emissions reduction target of more than 5.8 million tonnes by 2012.

He said automakers could have experimented with a variety of methods including ethanol, diesel or electric systems. Instead, DesRosiers believes the rebate program has minimal benefits, and comes at a steep price. "They're cowards and they're not willing to tell people what it's really going to cost them," DesRosiers said, adding the feebate program A leading auto analyst says Ottawa should cancel a controversial rebate program for fuel-efficient vehicles because it threatens to cripple the already fragile Canadian car and truck industry. On Thursday, Environment Minister John Baird announced the government is keeping its so-called "feebate" program that rewards consumers for buying certain fuel-efficient cars and penalizes owners of gas-guzzlers and will ramp up emissions standards beginning with the 2010 model year. "This is just crass politics they're playing," Dennis DesRosiers, of Toronto-based DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, said of the announcement.

"Our federal Conservative government is doing its utmost best to destroy the auto industry and they obviously don't care about southwestern Ontario." delivery problem with your newspaper this provides you with access to the newspaper in an electronic format. Register at www.edmontonjournal.com digital Hfyou have a comment about today's paper, call the Reader Response Line 429-5225 Call the city desk with your news tip 429-5200 I Contact the photo desk 429-5390 I To order a reprint of a photo, story or page, call JournalSearch 429-5580 I Main switchboard 429-5100 Advertising 429-5400 "I have an old-school management philosophy." SassitlfiiirMl I hn 2007 RIO 110 hp advanced fuel-efficient CWT 4-speaker CD stereo with MP3 player Dual airbags EX model shown' MSRP $14,945 PURCHASE FOR I ON OUR ENTIRE LINE OF VEHICLES! YP3 TOTAL CARE KM WORRY-FREE COMPREHENSIVE WARRANTY' VIDEO GRAD OWNERSHIP KM POWERTRAIN WARRANTY COVERAGE KM EXTRA CARE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE ITwImTTTnnTTTrTTTwr'mrtT'rrr nii.ii-T-jii-i-jNfim'jn yttaee UJEf IKs'l I MOTORS I 0 JL I The flower to Surprise" I MAGAZINE LJ 'Based on an MSRP of $14,945 on 2007 Rio EX MT (R05427) Block heater, dealer Drea and GST not included. 'Add 1 .3 to finance rate..