Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The federal government is delaying new emissions standards on gasoline and diesel another year but is demanding the oil and gas sector make bigger cuts to fuel emissions by 2030 given how much more money the companies are now making.
Cabinet approved the final regulations for the long-awaited Clean Fuel Standard last week and The Canadian Press obtained them today ahead of their intended publication on July 6.
A confluence of communications errors led to the regulations being distributed early upon request and the government was scrambling Monday to inform provinces as the news was about to leak.
“The CFS will be a key tool that complements pollution pricing and the pending oil and gas sector emission cap, to cut emissions and drive the use of clean fuels and technology in Canada,” a statement from Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault's office said Monday.
“Since the previous draft of the CFS, we've been working to make this as focused as possible on our end goal - driving down emissions and driving up innovation.”
The Clean Fuel Standard was first promised in 2016 as part of the Liberals' first climate plan. At that time it was expected it would cut 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year by 2030, but a new analysis based on the final regulations is expected shortly.
The initial plan was to have draft regulations ready by the spring of 2020, but the draft wasn't published until December 2021, and was followed by a mandatory six-month comment period.
The draft regulations said the new standard would kick into gear in December 2022. But the final regulations say the first compliance check will now be in December 2023.
The draft regulations also included kerosene, jet fuel or fuel oil on the list of fuels that need to comply but those are not included in the final regulations.
But they do increase the expected cuts to emissions from both gasoline and diesel.
The draft regulations expected gasoline to drop carbon intensity 2.5 per cent in December 2022 from a baseline number set using a 2016 average intensity. The final plan adjusts that baseline slightly, and requires a drop of 3.6 per cent for gasoline, and 3.8 per cent for diesel in December 2023.
The emissions intensity cap declines each year until 2030. Initially the plan was that both gasoline and diesel emissions intensities would decline 12.5 per cent by 2030. The final regulations, however, now say gasoline has to fall 14.7 per cent by 2030, and diesel by 15 per cent.
In June 2020 the federal government said it would scale back the standard in the early years as oil and gas companies reeled from a pandemic revenue hit.
Guilbeault's office now says companies are making record profits and “there's no doubt there is the capacity to invest in clean options.”
“In fact, the future sustainability of the industry depends on investment in innovation.”
Most Canadian oil and gas companies reported massive profits in the first quarter as global oil prices surged, largely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In May, Guilbeault told The Canadian Press he expected those companies to use those profits to invest in clean tech, after one oilpatch CEO complained federal tax credits for carbon capture and storage technology were not generous enough.
The emissions intensity is calculated on what are known as life cycle emissions - every ounce of carbon dioxide, methane or other greenhouse gases produced when oil and gas is extracted, processed, refined, upgraded, transported and finally, burned.
There are multiple options to lower emissions intensity, such as by replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity during the extraction or refining phases, distributing biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, or investing in electric or hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2022.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.