The National Post reports in its Wednesday edition that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney are working to finalize their $20-billion energy "grand bargain." The Post's Jesse Snyder writes that this deal aims to repair Alberta's relationship with Ottawa and unlock the province's oil and gas potential through complex environmental policies. However, it would impose a financial burden on taxpayers, likely amounting to billions. The Smith-Carney deal includes a commitment to build the Pathways carbon capture network, which aims to capture CO2 from up to 13 oil sands sites in Northern Alberta. Oil sands companies say the cost to build the project is too big for the private sector to carry, and have called on governments to cover an eye-watering 75 per cent of the construction cost. The Pathways project is a massive undertaking, unlike any similar carbon-capture scheme attempted around the world. If completed, oil sands companies could capture up to 12 million tonnes of CO2 annually from well sites near Fort McMurray, Alta. This carbon would be piped 400 kilometres south to Cold Lake, Alta., where it would be injected into underground rock formations, reducing emissions from oil production.