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OTTAWA — When Stephen Harper takes the stage at a leading U.S. think-tank on Thursday to talk about Canada’s energy prospects, his pitch will more than likely mention that Canada is halfway towards meeting its greenhouse gas emissions target.

The question on many American minds is: what will Canada do to make up the other half?

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As the Obama administration mulls whether to let TransCanada Corp. build the Keystone XL pipeline to connect the Alberta oilsands to the Gulf Coast, the federal Conservative government has ramped up the rhetoric around the measures it has taken to ensure pipeline safety, cut emissions and monitor oilsands pollution.

Environment Minister Peter Kent is making his pitch in Europe this week, hot on the heels of Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, while a number of federal and provincial politicians have worn a path to Washington to plead the Canadian case.

This week, in advance of the prime minister’s question-and-answer session with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, the government took out ads in U.S. publications and launched a new website to promote its sector-by-sector regulatory approach to reducing emissions.