Cap on emissions could kill plans for second refinery: Irving

Strict caps on greenhouse gas emissions could killIrving Oil'splans to build a second oil refinery, the company said Friday.

Members of the public got their first chance at an open house Friday to see and ask questions about Irving Oil's plans for the new refinery in Saint John.

The company acknowledged that the popularity of the issue of global warming could eventually affect whether the facility gets built,and that the project could be doomed by an absolute federal or provincial cap on carbon dioxide emissions.

"An absolute cap on CO2 emissions for a region or for the country may well do that," said Irving Oil spokesman Kevin Scott.

Last week, the New Brunswick legislature was buzzing with a debate on the province's greenhouse gas problems.

Premier Shawn Graham has been giving mixed signals about what the province plans to do about climate change.

"We will introduce a new climate change action plan that will ensure that the progress we make as a province does not jeopardize our environment," Graham said Friday.

However, Graham has also already endorsed Irving's second refinery as a boost to the province's economy.

Scott said the company has been meeting with the province on the action plan and hopesthe plan would allow for the second refinery.

"We believe refineries will be built somewhere in the world, and the question is, should we take the opportunity and build it here, or should we let it slip and go to the U.S. Gulf Coast or Central America, where they may not be as focused on greenhouse gases as we are," Scott said.

Scott said whether the second refinery gets built is still far from certain, butthe company isforging ahead and hoping the growing climate change storm doesn't eventually blow the project away.