CALGARY - Alberta will spend $4 billion over the next decade on green projects, including public transit and storage of carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.

A new $2-billion fund is also being created for public transit projects across Alberta, which Premier Ed Stelmach says will also reduce emissions because it will mean fewer vehicles on the road. Another $2 billion will be used to finance several major projects to capture carbon dioxide for permanent underground storage.

"The money comes from what we expect will be a larger surplus this year than forecasted," the premier announced Tuesday.

"It's being invested for the future in a way that will help Alberta take meaningful action on climate change without endangering jobs, the economy or our ability to support public services."

Alberta has been under growing pressure across North America and around the world to reduce emissions from the oilsands, which some environmental groups describe as a dirty source of energy.

The province has imposed caps on emissions for major industries with financial penalties for those that exceed their targets.

But Stelmach's Progressive Conservative government has been widely criticized for reducing only the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions, while allowing total emissions to continue increasing from the booming oilsands.

Greenpeace says Alberta's emissions will actually be higher in 2050 than they were in 1990.

Environment Minister Rob Renner says several major carbon dioxide (CO2) storage projects will be set up with the goal of capturing up to five million tonnes of the greenhouse gas per year by 2015.

"This funding will encourage a number of commercially viable large-scale projects," said Renner. "It could well be that we exceed five million tonnes annually, depending on the nature of those proposals."

The premier says the $4 billion in green spending will reduce emissions equal to those produced annually by one million cars.

"The $2 billion we're spending is the largest amount dedicated to carbon capture and storage anywhere in the world," he said.

"It's a significant commitment to one of the few technologies that's been identified as being able to make a substantial reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions."

The NDP says the $2 billion being spent to capture CO2 amounts to a handout for the energy industry, which accounts for most of Alberta's emissions.

"The Tories are giving money back to Big Oil. Their priorities are all wrong," said New Democrat Rachel Notley.

"Albertans deserve better schools, hospitals, and investment in government-owned renewable energy resources like wind, solar and geothermal."

Greenpeace says the carbon capture and storage announcement amounts to using taxpayer dollars to clean up industry messes.

"Burying carbon under the ground and hoping it stays there for hundreds of years is not the solution to the climate crisis," says Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema, who repeated his call for the province to hard caps on emissions.

Liberal environment David Swann says there is nothing in Tuesday's announcement that suggests is trying to harmonize its climate change plans with the rest of Canada.

-by Jim Macdonald in Edmonton

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