Environment Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2025

[Danielle Smith]

Yes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Is human activity primarily responsible for this global warming, yes or no?

[Danielle Smith]

Human activity is contributing to it, yes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Is it the main reason for this global warming?

[Danielle Smith]

I don't know the answer to that. I'm not a scientist. We do know that we need to get to carbon neutral by 2050, and we have a plan to do that.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do you acknowledge that oil and gas are largely responsible for the current global warming?

[Danielle Smith]

I know that a lot of methane emissions come from hydroelectric development, so hydroelectric is also a methane producer, which has 10 times the impact of carbon dioxide. All sources of methane, as well as CO2, have to be reduced.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You set a goal of net zero by 2050 for your province and said you want to double oil production. Those two objectives seem to be incompatible, even though there is talk of carbon capture and sequestration.

Has your government carried out any modelling of the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from your energy policies? Would you be willing to share that modelling with the committee?

[Danielle Smith]

Yes, we have seen an increase of 90% in oil sands production, and, because of energy intensity, we've seen a reduction in the amount of emissions produced.

We do know that we have seen a 60% reduction in our electricity grid emissions because of going from coal to natural gas. That's what we think will be the greatest reduction in global emissions—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Excuse me, Premier, but that wasn't my question.

Since you're talking about doubling oil and gas production while achieving net zero by 2050, do you have any modelling of the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from your current and projected energy policies by 2050? Can you send that modelling to the committee?

[Danielle Smith]

Well, I understand that in Quebec you don't understand the oil industry, so you don't know that there are 6,000 products that come from a barrel of oil, including asphalt, carbon fibre—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Ms. Smith, can you answer my question, please?

[Danielle Smith]

I'm just telling you these are non-combustion—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Premier, can you answer my question?

[Danielle Smith]

I am answering. There are non-combustion uses. Those are zero-combustion uses...when you put asphalt on a road.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Here is my question: Do you have any modelling that shows that Alberta is capable of achieving net zero by 2050 while doubling oil and gas production? If so, can you send it to the committee?

[Danielle Smith]

Yes. We're doing carbon capture, utilization and storage. We will be bringing non-emitting sources onto our electricity grid, with interties with British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We will be bringing on nuclear, which we're supportive of, including small modular reactors. We'll be doing direct air capture, for which I cut a ribbon yesterday to announce the 10th project that is being done in that regard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Chair, I expect the committee to receive the requested modelling, since the premier said she had it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Okay. The clerk will follow up on that.

Thank you very much, Mr. Bonin.

Thank you, Mrs. Smith.

Now, for five minutes, we'll have Mr. Leslie.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Premier Smith, oil demand continues to rise, and every barrel that we do not produce here will be produced somewhere else, often with far weaker environmental standards.

Will the Liberals' oil and gas production cap simply drive global emissions around the world to increase?

[Danielle Smith]

Yes. I don't believe any other country has the substantial pore space that we have in Alberta. We've mapped out 25 hubs. We have technology that we have deployed at scale. We've already sequestered 14 megatonnes of CO2. Our neighbour, Saskatchewan, which also has an enhanced oil recovery program, has sequestered 40 megatonnes. In partnership with industry, we've been able to deploy that technology.

As I mentioned, I think direct air capture is the most promising, because that allows us to take CO2 directly from the atmosphere and safely sequester it underground in that porous space.

I don't see other nations making the same kinds of investments that we are. We have a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050 through all of these different technology mechanisms. I think that Canada should have a greater share of that increasing market for oil and natural gas.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Premier.

Now, the Liberal government chose to exclude enhanced oil recovery from its carbon capture tax credit. If companies were able to use captured carbon to safely extract more energy from existing wells, isn't that a win both for the environment and for our economy?

[Danielle Smith]

It is, because it allows for us.... In the case of Saskatchewan, which does this from a coal plant in North Dakota, they are able to capture the CO2 and then use it for land and soil recovery, and that CO2 stays safely stored. We are doing that.

This is technology that has been advanced for decades, but in addition, we can also take that CO2, liquefy it, as they are doing in the project at Tamarack, which I opened up yesterday, and then safely store it underground as well, so that it stays there permanently.

These are the new technologies that will allow us to do both: to produce the affordable and reliable energy that the world needs, but also to do so in a way that reduces and ultimately neutralizes emissions by 2050.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you, Premier.

Thousands of indigenous Canadians work in the energy sector. These are good, high-paying and life-changing jobs that build real prosperity. If the emissions cap stays in place and is not scrapped, would that not threaten the growth of the opportunities for such folks?