By Daniel Pagan
Canada’s most influencial environmental advisors are getting a new boss.
University of Calgary professor Bob Page was appointed chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. Page has 25 years of experience as the U fo C TransAlta Corporation Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability. He worked as vice-president of sustainable development for TransAlta for 10 years on carbon offset projects and market-based trading to help reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Founded by former prime minister Brian Mulroney in 1988, NRTEE is an advisory body where various voices write reports on the environment. It includes industry, government, academic, community, public health, environmental groups and other interests in debates. Page was selected by federal environment minister John Baird after an open competition.
NRTEE plays a big role in influencing environmental policy, but Page feels a little intimidated by the amount of work required on challenges such as global warming.
“Smog, water and drought, health hazards, toxic emissions and many more,” said Page. “There are a dozen more issues facing us.”
His experience at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy helped him prepare for the NRTEE appointment.
“What we do everyday in ISEEE is background to this work, such as carbon capture and storage,” he said.
Currently there are four or five large carbon capture projects with government funding.
“I expect one [new development] in the current election campaign,” said Page. “TransAlta is looking at retrofitting an existing 400 megawatt coal plant west of Edmonton to capture one million tonnes of CO2.”
Alberta is spending $2 billion on carbon capture plans, however Page feels the environmental impact of carbon capture plan and noise disturbance need to be considered more closely.
He will chair NRTEE for three years and complete three reports, including an assessment of the federal government’s performance on implementing the Kyoto Protocol.
“We found the government’s estimations of what they will achieve to be inflated,” said Page.
The other reports will focus on carbon pricing, a national carbon tax or emissions cap and the climate change’s impact in Canada’s Arctic.
“Unless there is a cost to people, action on greenhouse gas emission is unlikely,” said Page.