Green groups vexed by Canada PM's award from oil sector

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will receive an environmental award from oil companies at a conference in Texas on Thursday, raising the ire of activists back home.

Trudeau will accept the energy and environment leadership award and also deliver a keynote address at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit gathering in Houston.

The event brings together 3,500 energy and clean technology executives as well as policymakers from around the world.

The Canadian leader will have an opportunity to tout a message he has been pushing domestically -- that building the economy and protecting the environment must go hand in hand.

But Greenpeace's Patrick Bonin said it's "shocking" that Trudeau is accepting an environment award from oil companies, and noted that the recognition  highlights a "dichotomy" of the Trudeau administration on environmental issues.

"We can no longer exploit new oil and gas deposits if we want to limit global warming," said Bonin, who was echoed by several activist groups.

Trudeau came to power in 2015 promising to curb Canada's greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. 

His government committed to eliminating 2019 megatonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030 -- a 30 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

At the same time, Ottawa approved construction of two pipelines connecting the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast and the US oil network.

In a statement announcing the Texas trip last week, Trudeau said: "This is about making our economy more competitive and leaving our kids a cleaner environment.