The Tar Sands have been saved again. Our Furious Leader, Harpo, has flatly rejected the idea of carbon taxes as a way to compel industry to curb greenhouse gas emissions. EnviroMin knuckledragger in chief, John Baird, dismissed carbon taxes as a "liberal idea."
For a supposedly liberal idea, the Libs themselves have been equivocal in response to the advisory panel's recommendations.
According to the National Spot, Alberta also flatly rejected the report's recommendations:
"Alberta said it would oppose any economy-wide carbon emissions tax.
"We have been and continue to be opposed to any kind of implementation of a cross the board tax," Environment Minister Rob Renner said Monday.
Instead, Renner touted Alberta's plan, which he said shares some traits with recommendations released Monday by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
Alberta's plan, which was the first in Canada, will force industrial polluters to cut the intensity of their greenhouse gas emissions by 12%. Companies that cannot meet the targets will have to buy carbon offsets or pay $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide into a climate change and emissions management fund.
What Renner said he doesn't want is money leaving the province and not coming back.
"There's some validity to [the report], provided we don't reach some kind of situation where funds are flowing into some kind of general revenue fund and Albertans find themselves having dollars flowing out of Alberta and not contributing to deal with the real issue, which is how do we reduce the production of CO2."
Naturally, Renner isn't quite so concerned about the CO2 leaving Alberta as he is about keeping the money at home.
Critics have argued that under that plan, some industries, such as the oilsands sector in Alberta which is responsible for much of the growth in Canada's emissions, would be allowed to triple or quadruple their emissions in absolute terms over the next decade, since they are projected to see production grow by up to five times.
For a supposedly liberal idea, the Libs themselves have been equivocal in response to the advisory panel's recommendations.
According to the National Spot, Alberta also flatly rejected the report's recommendations:
"Alberta said it would oppose any economy-wide carbon emissions tax.
"We have been and continue to be opposed to any kind of implementation of a cross the board tax," Environment Minister Rob Renner said Monday.
Instead, Renner touted Alberta's plan, which he said shares some traits with recommendations released Monday by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
Alberta's plan, which was the first in Canada, will force industrial polluters to cut the intensity of their greenhouse gas emissions by 12%. Companies that cannot meet the targets will have to buy carbon offsets or pay $15 per tonne of carbon dioxide into a climate change and emissions management fund.
What Renner said he doesn't want is money leaving the province and not coming back.
"There's some validity to [the report], provided we don't reach some kind of situation where funds are flowing into some kind of general revenue fund and Albertans find themselves having dollars flowing out of Alberta and not contributing to deal with the real issue, which is how do we reduce the production of CO2."
Naturally, Renner isn't quite so concerned about the CO2 leaving Alberta as he is about keeping the money at home.
Critics have argued that under that plan, some industries, such as the oilsands sector in Alberta which is responsible for much of the growth in Canada's emissions, would be allowed to triple or quadruple their emissions in absolute terms over the next decade, since they are projected to see production grow by up to five times.
4 comments:
Pretty sure the Liberals don't support it either.
Um, the voters would punish any party that actually followed through on this. That's precisely why the Liberals won't touch this either.
another Liberal that didn't do their homework. Dion also came out against this proposal. While I won't claim the Conservatives have a huge amount of credibility at this point on carbon emissions, why do the Liberals keep insisting they do? The Liberal record of the Chretien-Martin years is the worst in the industrialized world. Polls show Canadians recognize this. All of this phony environmental crusading is just making Liberals look foolish, giving the left vote to the NDP and electing Conservatives.
Thanks for your contribution to a better and safer country.
Well, Fraser, good to hear from you. I read your blog. Too bad you didn't read mine. I specifically pointed out that Liberals were, at best, equivocal on carbon taxes. So take your churlish remarks and try writing something, anything, on your own blog.
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