Report finds net-zero target could spell disaster for Alberta if energy production were phased out

A new report that explores a hypothetical scenario on the path to achieving Canada's net-zero emissions target by 2050 is raising eyebrows among some public policy experts.

A new report that explores a hypothetical scenario on the path to achieving Canada's net-zero emissions target by 2050 is raising eyebrows among some public policy experts.

Public Policy Forum, a non-partisan, Ottawa-based think tank, released a report on Thursday exploring two pathways to achieve net-zero carbon impact from oil and gas production.

One route looked at potential results of "broad-based, sector-agnostic emissions reductions," which include tools like a carbon tax.

The other considered the economic impact of oil production ultimately being phased out gradually.

In that scenario, the phase-out of oil and gas production would amount to a $100-billion loss in Canada's gross domestic product and $60 billion of that would directly impact Alberta.

One expert suggests the report amounts to a "straw-man argument" by studying a production cap or phase-out when there is no active federal policy to do that.

"There's no phase-out going on there. There's no phase-out of the oil and gas sector either. They're talking about an emissions cap, not a production cap. And it's disappointing to see that conflated in this report," said Blake Shaffer, associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy.