Canada sets 30 percent cut in greenhouse gas output, details sparse

By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG (Reuters) - Canada, under fire for its environmental record, pledged on Friday to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 but gave few details of what Ottawa acknowledged was an ambitious plan. As part of the official announcement, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the government would develop new rules for natural gas-fired electricity generation and to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. "We will continue to reduce Canada's emissions while protecting the economy," she told a news conference in Winnipeg. Recent data shows Canada has no chance of meeting its existing 2020 target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels unless it takes further steps. Green activists say the ruling Conservatives of Prime Minister Stephen Harper must do much more to tackle climate change, in part by cutting emissions from the oil and gas sector. Harper says he will only do so in coordination with the United States and has ruled out the idea of a carbon tax. Aglukkaq made her announcement in the run-up to a United Nations summit in Paris in December which is designed to agree on reductions beyond 2020. The United States has already announced it plans emissions cuts of up to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Aglukkaq also said Ottawa would introduce regulations for the production of chemicals and nitrogen fertilizers. She gave no details. (Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Paul Simao and Matthew Lewis)