268 Public Policy: The Not-So Great Divide—Where Science Meets Public Policy

Wednesday, 12 October 2011
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Room L100FG

BROADENING CANADA-UNITED STATES COOPERATION ON TRANSBOUNDARY GEOSCIENCE ISSUES

Paper number: 268-12
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

Canada and the United States have cooperated on transboundary geoscience issues for more than 100 years. The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 established the International Joint Commission to help prevent and resolve disputes between Canada and the United States over shared fresh waters and other transboundary environmental issues. Since 1998, the International Joint Commission has been developing its International Watersheds Initiative to encourage a more integrated and participatory ecosystem-based approach in dealing with transboundary water basins within the framework of the Boundary Waters Treaty. In 2008, the International Joint Commission established a Transboundary Hydrographic Data Harmonization Task Force that is assisting Canadian and U.S. government agencies in standardizing and integrating their hydrologic and geographic data into seamless datasets. These and other joint activities will help reduce risks from floods and other natural hazards and help understand and address challenges posed by climate change. These approaches to transboundary cooperation serve as a model for other transboundary geoscience issues.

In February 2009, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched a Clean Energy Dialogue between the United States and Canada that includes a strengthened partnership on carbon sequestration. The partnership will help accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale, near-zero-carbon coal facilities to promote climate and energy security. On April 16, 2010, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu signed a Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in Energy Science and Technology that includes a strong focus on carbon capture and storage.

The proposed TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline, including potential impacts on the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, raises sensitive environmental, economic, and energy security issues for Canada and the United States. The resolution of these issues will benefit from a century of cooperation between Canada and the United States on geoscience issues.