A new pipeline agreement between Alberta and Ottawa could trigger a race to the bottom on Canada's climate policies, advocates said Thursday, as they warned the deal would invite other provinces to make copycat demands.

While Thursday's deal saw Alberta agree to strengthen its industrial carbon price, it also came with several carveouts. The deal proposed to extend a timeline for cutting down on highly polluting methane emissions and suspending clean electricity rules — but only for that province.

The head of the Canadian Climate Institute said political carveouts are a short-sighted compromise that will increase emissions of planet-warming gases and invite provinces to ask for their own special treatment.

"That could trigger a race to the bottom," the institute's president, Rick Smith,

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