The Canadian province of Alberta, home to the country’s oil sands, said Sunday it will put in place an economy-wide tax on carbon emissions in 2017, placating criticism it’s not doing enough to combat climate change.
Advertisement
In addition, the plan would set a $20 per ton price on carbon at the beginning of 2017 and increase it to $30 per ton the following year.
Premier Rachel Notley’s strategy – a major shift in environmental policy for Canada’s largest oil-producing province – will take centre stage as Canada’s premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gather in Ottawa on Monday for a first ministers’ meeting to craft a strategy for the coming Paris climate talks. “Alberta is showing leadership on one of the world’s biggest problems”.
The $3 billion a year Alberta expects to collect by 2018 goes to consumer rebates for low and middle income households, transition payments to workers and communities and “to provide incremental fiscal capacity for other government priorities including infrastructure”, the Alberta government report says. “We are all now working together to realize the full value provided by the oil and natural gas industry, including jobs, economic benefits and government revenues in a way that addresses the challenges associated with climate change”.
Incentives to have almost one-third of power generated from renewables such as wind and solar by 2030.
“But now we’re getting a chance to show the world really what we’ve been doing all these years and I think they’ll be a little bit surprised”.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called Alberta’s announcement an “extremely important” development, and said the premiers are joining Trudeau at the climate conference “with a very strong story to tell“.
The plan was based on information provided by the Climate Change Advisory Panel, led by Dr. Andrew Leach, which weighed the opinions of thousands of Albertans and stakeholder groups this fall. The Alberta government has responded to protect the health of all Albertans, particularly those who suffer from respiratory disease, such as asthma.
Canada’s political leaders have pledged to step up the fight against climate change, including significantly reducing emissions and polishing the nation’s worldwide reputation, raising prospects for renewable energy developers across the country.
“If we attempt to make it uniform from sea to sea to sea, it will fail, obviously”, said Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard.
Greenhouse gas emissions need to be “net zero” in order to stabilize the climate, meaning GHGs must be reduced to a level where carbon sinks such as forest and oceans can absorb more carbon than is emitted into the atmosphere. To that end, the plan foresees an end to coal-fired power generation and a carbon price of C$30 ($22.49) per tonne. “It makes sense to focus on the biggest sources of greenhouse gas pollution in this sector-methane-because it offers the biggest reduction per dollar and the goal is achievable using technology and practices that are commercially available today”.
Advertisement
Across Canada we are moving ahead with forward thinking local strategies like moving toward 100 per cent renewable energy and building more resilient cities. “When Albertans are looking for a job and have no job it’s going to be pretty hard to be an example to the rest of the world as we have been in the past”.
