I join my fellow Canadians in urging our federal government to enact stronger global warming laws and policies.
A Vision for Canada.
A Vision For Canada
We aim to make Canada carbon neutral. A Canada where global warming emissions are a thing of the past.
The Power of the Market. Strong Laws & Investments. Strong International Agreements.
PowerUP the Market
• Drop the phoney debate about cap & trade versus taxes. Leading jurisdictions are using both and getting things done. Set an economy-wide cost for greenhouse gas emissions beginning at no less than $30 per tonne in 2009 and rising to at least $75 by 2020.
• “The most effective and efficient policy that would result in deep GHG emission reductions is a market-based policy, such as an emissions tax, a cap-and-trade system, or a combination of the two. This core policy then needs to be complemented by other regulatory policies, to force emission reductions from parts of the economy that do not respond to a price policy.” National Roundtable on the Economy and Environment. Getting to 2050: Canada’s Transition to a Low Emission Future, 2008
• “Canada needs to go much further, must faster, in introducing a national, comprehensive, and coordinated system of green taxes that would set a price on greenhouse gas emissions. This GHG tax system should be implemented in tandem with a cap and trade system.” Conference Board of Canada, Use Green Taxes and Market Instruments to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 2008
PowerUP Laws and Investments
Canada needs a plan to become carbon neutral. First, we must match world-leading standards for vehicles, buildings and appliances. And we must invest in a modern “smart” power grid, public transit, carbon sequestration and clean energy.
Examples:
• Match at least California’s clean car standards.
• Ramp up renewable energy in collaboration with the provinces to set German-style “feed-in-tarrifs".
• Match at least the U.K. mandate for all new homes to be carbon neutral by 2016.
• Match Japan’s energy efficiency standards.
PowerUP International Agreements
Canada must stop fighting the recommendations of the scientific community for industrialized countries to reduce their emissions. In the UN negotiations culminating in Copenhagen in 2009, Canada must agree to reduce its net annual emissions to no more than 450 megatonnes by 2020. (NB: the recommendations are for industrialized countries to cut between 25% and 40% from the 1990 level. Given Canada’s particular challenges – growing energy exports, growing population etc – we’ve calculated at the lowest end of this range.)
