Give the PM a Break

Prime Minister Trudeau just negotiated an agreement for a pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change that meets, or exceeds, the 2030 goal of reducing.

The core measure is the imposition of a natural price on carbon, starting at $10 per tonne of carbon emissions in 2018, rising to $50 per tonne by 2022. Now let’s see if Christy Clark will finally move on increasing BC’s carbon tax that has proven so effective in the past in making BC a climate leader and that is now stalled.GHG emissions by 30% below 2005 levels. The difficulties of reaching this agreement cannot be underestimated given our federal/provincial structure, and the need for a quid pro quo. Read more here about the difficulties of reaching this agreement.

 There are two holdouts—Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and ideally with the momentum created by this plan, they will begin to see the new future and cost benefits of a renewable energy system as other provinces surge ahead.

 Once again, I will argue that we now need a transition plan to complement this agreement, in order to allay people’s fears and let them ‘see’ the future carbon neutral economy. How do we phase out oil and gas, including a transition in jobs, markets, and current industrial practices? How do we get from 2016 to 2030, with a minimum of dislocation and accelerated innovations, not leaving any province behind?


 

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