Alberta’s oil and gas industry outperforms most of the world in cutting emissions. It’s time environmentalists focused on the real global offenders

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Environmentalists often target oil and gas companies as the villains of climate change. It’s easier to blame corporations than to confront the reality that consumers are responsible for the vast majority of emissions.

But if we’re serious about cutting greenhouse gases (GHGs), we need to tell the whole story. That includes acknowledging the substantial progress made by Canada’s energy sector, especially in Alberta, where measurable environmental improvements are already underway.

Take venting and flaring. Venting is the direct release of unburned natural gas, mostly methane, into the air. Flaring burns that gas, converting methane into carbon dioxide, which has far less short-term climate impact. Alberta has slashed both to record lows while increasing output. In 2018, Alberta’s oil and gas producers captured and used 97.4 per cent of the natural gas that would otherwise have been released or burned off, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator. That means less methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, is escaping into the atmosphere.

That’s just on the production side. But what about the emissions we generate after the fuel leaves the wellhead?

Here’s a fact that rarely makes headlines: oil and gas producers account for only about 20 per cent of total GHG emissions. The rest, a whopping 80 per cent, comes from fuel used by consumers. That means driving cars, heating homes and powering industries.

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