Liberal Party, feds launch campaigns to get Canadians aware of carbon price rebate
The Liberal government is pushing a broad public opinion and awareness campaign to get Canadians in the know about carbon pricing rebates, but one expert says a return at tax time won’t guarantee a bump in popular support for Ottawa’s pricing policy. The federal benchmark carbon pricing system will go into effect on April 1 […]
Plugging their methane leaks is the least oil companies could do on climate
There are no silver-bullets on climate change—but dealing with industrial methane is as close to “easy” as it gets. Or at least, it should be. It’s cheap, it will have a noticeable benefit for health and climate change in the short term, and it will create good jobs in regions where workers are hurting. The […]
Another messy compromise: carbon pricing in Canada
Climate policies differ wildly from one part of the country to another. The federal government aimed to smooth these differences with its Pan-Canadian Framework. Provinces had to meet a standard or have the federal system imposed. In practice, politics won over policy. October 2018 saw the release of long-awaited details on provincial carbon pricing policies, […]
The days of free pollution are over
We live in a time of climate crisis. We’ve known the science for more than a generation, but political leaders over the course of history have nevertheless punted the issue of climate change to the next election cycle, cowed by the enormity of the task. We are aware of the solutions to this existential problem, […]
McKenna says rebates central to getting Canadians to support carbon pricing
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is pitching to Canadians carbon pricing rebates that she says will do more than just offset what most households will pay as a result of a carbon tax. In an interview with The Hill Times on Feb. 27, Ms. McKenna (Ottawa Centre, Ont.) said the rebate program—called the Climate Action Incentive—will […]
Senate Environment Committee eyeing Fort McMurray, southern Alberta First Nation for stops on cross-country tour for environmental assessment reform bill
The Senate Environment Committee will spend two days in Alberta, and travel to Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Vancouver in the second week of April as part of its study of the government’s environmental assessment reform bill, C-69, before heading east later that month, according to two members of the committee. After lengthy negotiations on whether and […]
From efficiency to effectiveness: can Canada meet its emission reduction goals through carbon pricing?
OTTAWA—Often lost in the carbon pricing debate is the distinction between efficiency and effectiveness. Most economists agree that putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions is the most efficient way to reduce the pollution driving climate change. Implementing a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system incentivizes households and businesses to make less-polluting choices at the […]
A primer on output-based carbon pricing: there’s probably more consensus than you think
The federal government’s “backstop” carbon-pricing policy will apply in provinces and territories that haven’t implemented a sufficiently broad and stringent policy of their own. The backstop has two parts. The first is the levy on the carbon embedded in fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel; this is pretty straightforward. The second is a separate […]
We are having the wrong conversation, we are in a climate emergency
We are in a climate emergency and we are doing nothing substantive or effective to confront it. Within Parliament and media circles, we ignore the urgency of the climate crisis. Some Members of Parliament understand the grave nature of the threat. Some of us grasp that when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports […]
How do you know when a carbon price works?
For months now, Canadians have been treated to two starkly different carbon tax stories. In one version, it’s a fair, highly effective and essential policy to combat climate change—endorsed by economists and environmentalists alike. In the other, it’s little more than a tax grab that “does nothing” for emissions or the environment. So, which is […]
