Danger of U.S. 'environmental protectionism'

CALGARY — A University of Alberta business professor says America isn’t likely to stop imports from Canada’s oilsands but there’s a credible threat from what he calls “environmental protectionism.”

Andrew Leach says there’s a danger of oilsands costs rising even further if the United States adopts more aggressive climate change rules than Canada has.

Both Ottawa and Alberta back carbon capture as a climate change strategy — but there is disagreement over who should pay billions of dollars for it. Professor Leach says there’s a danger that Washington may levy a special tax on what environmentalists have dubbed “dirty oil” from Alberta’s oilsands.

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