Clean Fuel Regulations kick in across country. Will Canadians pay more at the pump?

globalnews.ca:

The federal government’s Clean Fuel Regulations kicked in Saturday, meaning some Canadians may pay more for gas at the pump, experts warned.

The regulations, first promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government in 2016 and finalized last year, are designed to reduce pollution by making fuels in gasoline and diesel cleaner.

The regulations only target gasoline and diesel refiners and importers, rather than directly affecting consumers like carbon pricing does. These industries are required either to generate their own credits by reducing their own emissions or buy credits from other sources.

While the costs are not directly applied to consumers, the companies that must pay for credits could pass them on indirectly.

“The Clean Fuel regulation applies came into force July 1 and it covers gas and diesel,” Bob Larocque, president and CEO at Canadian Fuels Association, told Global News. “And you have to reduce the carbon intensity.”

The overall life cycle of crude oil — from producing, processing, transporting and using gasoline and diesel — is called carbon intensity, he explained. In order to clean up the fuel, the regulation now requires Canadian industries to reduce the intensity by 15 per cent by 2030, relative to a baseline of 2016.

“The gasoline and diesel that you use in your car is called drop-in. And what it means is that the emissions from the full lifecycle will be reduced by 15 per cent, So it is a cleaner fuel,” Larocque said.

The good news for many Canadians is that, for now, they won’t experience an immediate increase in prices at the gas pump, he added.

But those living on the East Coast may be seeing a higher gas price Saturday.

That’s because, in provinces like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the