New column day

Here, on how the oil industry is refusing to play by the rules needed to manage greenhouse gas emissions - and why we shouldn't take seriously the claim that it can't afford to.

For further reading, here's Andrew Leach's post on how a carbon price would (barely) affect development of the oil sands:

(E)ach ton of carbon emitted in the course of oil sands production is tied to about $900 worth of sales (at $90/bbl), and $400-500 worth of profit. If you think that an investment with that kind of value proposition is going to dry up in the face of a $30-$50 (or even much higher) per ton carbon (price), think again.
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Costs of any aggressive carbon pricing to an oil sands operation will be significant (even $5/bbl on a 600,000 bpd operation like Suncor would be over $1 billion per year) but the value proposition is significant as well. I am a firm believer in carbon pricing, and that’s because I don’t think the world or our country can afford to keep doing things which generate little value while emitting carbon. But, if you believe in carbon pricing, you also have to accept that it is not a market failure when the activities you do not like keep going in the face of a carbon charge.