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California backs EU label on Canada’s ‘dirty’ oil

PR setback for Alberta’s reserves comes on the sidelines of global climate conference

California announced on Wednesday it would support the European Unions’s plan to label fuel retrieved from Canada’s oil sands reserves as “dirty fuel” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, Reuters reports. On Oct. 4, the European Commission approved a proposal to label oil sands-derived fuel as highly harmful to the environment in a ranking system that allows fuel suppliers to identify the most carbon-intensive options. California has already introduced a system that goes a step further, allowing consumers to choose which fuel they use based on these labels. Alberta’s reserves have been a constant target of international criticism due to their potential effect on global warming. Oil derived from oil sands is said to emit more CO2 than coal or regular crude oil. Canada, in partnership with the oil industry, has lobbied against Europe’s ranking system, which it says is unfair and “not based on science.”

Reuters

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