carbon

Thursday April 13, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 13, 2022

Will War Make Europe’s Switch to Clean Energy Even Harder?

At the Siemens Gamesa factory in Aalborg, Denmark, where the next generation of offshore wind turbines is being built, workers are on their hands and knees inside a shallow, canoe-shaped pod that stretches the length of a football field. It is a mold used to produce one half of a single propeller blade. Guided by laser markings, the crew is lining the sides with panels of balsa wood.

November 10, 2021

The gargantuan blades offer a glimpse of the energy future that Europe is racing toward with sudden urgency. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia — the European Union’s largest supplier of natural gas and oil — has spurred governments to accelerate plans to reduce their dependence on climate-changing fossil fuels. Armed conflict has prompted policymaking pledges that the more distant threat of an uninhabitable planet has not.

Smoothly managing Europe’s energy switch was always going to be difficult. Now, as economies stagger back from the second year of the pandemic, Russia’s attack on Ukraine grinds on and energy prices soar, the painful trade-offs have crystallized like never before.

Moving investments away from oil, gas and coal to sustainable sources like wind and solar, limiting and taxing carbon emissions, and building a new energy infrastructure to transmit electricity are crucial to weaning Europe off fossil fuels. But they are all likely to raise costs during the transition, an extremely difficult pill for the public and politicians to swallow.

Tuesday May 14, 2019 

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 14, 2019 

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians oppose provincial governments spending taxpayers’ dollars to battle federal carbon tax, poll says

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians oppose provincial governments spending taxpayers’ dollars to battle the federal carbon tax, says a new poll released Monday as the Ontario government launched a new television ad slamming the levy.

April 30, 2019

About 64 per cent of respondents said it is unacceptable for provinces to opt out of the federal effort to combat climate change, including the carbon tax, according to a survey done by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail. As well, 64 per cent of respondents said they oppose provincial governments spending public money to fight the tax.

Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick are pursuing legal challenges to the levy, which the Liberal government imposed in those provinces that do not have a carbon pricing system of their own, as part of Ottawa’s overall effort to meet its international commitment to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

April 17, 2019

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is expected to unveil legislation on May 22 to rescind the provincial carbon tax adopted by the former New Democratic Party government. Mr. Kenney said he, too, will launch a legal challenge if, as promised, the federal government imposed its carbon tax in place of the provincial one that is to be cancelled.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his ministers have launched a multipronged opposition campaign that includes the court challenge in which a decision is expected soon; frequent ministerial photo ops highlighting the cost of the levy; a move to require gas stations to post stickers detailing the cost, and paid advertising. In a spot to air Monday, an Ontario government ad says the carbon tax will cost the average family $648 a year in 2022. Like the rest of the provincial material, the Ontario ad does not include any mention of the fact that the federal legislation requires all revenue raised to be returned to the province, with 80 per cent of families expected to receive more through a rebate delivered on their income tax return than they paid out in tax.

April 15, 2015

“It’s pretty clear that Canadians don’t like the idea of provinces opting out with the exception of Canadians in the Prairie provinces,” pollster Nik Nanos said. “While the carbon tax and the rebate is not a big political winner [for the federal Liberals], people definitely don’t like using provincial tax dollars to fight the federal carbon tax.”

The survey – which has a margin of error of three percentage points – polled 1,000 Canadians by phone and online between April 25 and 28. (Globe & Mail) 

 

Thursday April 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 18, 2019

Ontario gas stations could be fined $10,000 a day for missing anti-carbon-tax stickers

Buried in Ontario’s budget bill are fines of up to $10,000 per day for gas station operators who don’t display government-mandated stickers about the price of the carbon tax.

August 17, 2016

The budget contains a new piece of legislation called the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act that would require gas stations to display the sticker on each pump. The sticker shows the federal carbon tax adding 4.4 cents per litre to the price of gas now, rising to 11 cents a litre in 2022.

The legislation lets the government send inspectors to see if gas stations are properly displaying the stickers and sets out penalties for non-compliance.

Individuals could be fined up to $500 each day, or up to $1,000 a day for subsequent offences. Corporations could be fined up to $5,000 a day, or up to $10,000 a day for subsequent offences.

Obstructing an inspector would carry a fine of at least $500 and up to $10,000.

December 1, 2018

“This is a new low, even for (Premier) Doug Ford,” NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns said in a statement. “It’s bad enough that he’s wasting public money on partisan promotion, but now he’s threatening private business owners with massive fines for failing to post [Progressive] Conservative Party advertisement.”

Similar critiques came from federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who denounced the fines as “ridiculous.”

“Not only is this a violation of freedom of speech, it will cost small business owners across the province who don’t want to take part in this government propaganda campaign,” McKenna said in a statement.

“This should be denounced by all political parties as a new low for our political discourse.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford is wasting tax dollars and abusing legal tools to bolster his anti-carbon tax campaign.

“This has nothing to do with transparency and everything to do with helping his federal cousins win the election,” Schreiner said in a statement. (CBC News) 

 

Saturday December 1, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 1, 2018

Doug Ford’s environmental plan falls woefully short

Some people argue quibbling over semantics — the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text — is trivial. Not always.

September 29, 2018

Consider the Ontario government’s just-announced plan to fight climate change. Environment Minister Rod Phillips says the plan doesn’t include a carbon tax.

Ontario’s environment watchdog — a position the government has announced is being cut — says the province’s plan will impose a carbon tax on industry despite government assurances it would not do so. She argues, credibly, that introducing mandatory standards on Ontario’s largest polluters does, in fact, put a price on carbon. Just not for everyone.

Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe is right, but don’t expect the government to admit that. Doug Ford will never admit to putting a price on carbon for industrial polluters, any more than he will admit his plan falls short of what is really needed. But both things are true.

October 12, 2016

No one is going to argue against tougher regulations for big polluters. But it’s worth remembering that all of the province’s worst polluters don’t produce as many harmful emissions as comes from buildings and transportation. And those sectors are not even noted in the plan.

Another key feature of the Ford plan offers incentives to the private sector to help Ontario meet its goals. How will those incentives be funded? By the public treasury, of course. So no matter how you slice it, taxpayers are funding industry that wants to become more energy efficient. Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with that. But even the most staunch conservative cannot deny that this amounts to taxpayers investing in greenhouse gas reduction. As they would, say, with a carbon tax.

The Ford government says this plan means the province will meet GHG reduction targets agreed upon by world leaders in the Paris Accord. Under that international agreement, Canada has committed to reducing emissions by 30 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030. Thanks to the efforts of the previous government in eliminating coal-fired generation, Ontario has already reduced emissions by 22 per cent. So if this plan could achieve an additional eight per cent reduction, Ford and friends could fairly claim Ontario has done its part, although in large part due to the previous Liberal government.

May 16, 2015

Here’s the rub for Ontario taxpayers. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is not impressed. She called the Ford plan “backwards” and suggested Ottawa will push ahead with plans to enforce a carbon tax.

Ford still insists he and other conservative premiers will fight the federal tax, even though constitutional legal experts say there is no chance they can win in court. Meanwhile, Ottawa has plans to send rebates to individual Ontario taxpayers drawn from carbon tax revenue, a move polling suggests will lesson or even defeat public resistance to the new tax.

So Ford spends $300 million on a no-win court battle. Ontarians get a carbon tax in addition to industry incentives, which taxpayers are also paying for. And don’t forget that Ford’s killing of the cap-and-trade program has cost, so far, $3.5 billion in public investment for infrastructure like schools.

Ford says he will ensure Trudeau is defeated in the next election. But the leader doing the most damage to the province and its taxpayers right now isn’t Trudeau. It’s Ford himself. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday October 12, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday October 12, 2016 Liberal governmentÕs carbon tax plan provokes anger from provinces Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an ultimatum to the provinces on Monday, announcing his governmentÕs plan to set a minimum carbon tax even as environment ministers were meeting in Montreal to discuss options for carbon pricing. Several provinces and territories reacted angrily Ð three environment ministers walked out of the federal-provincial climate talks Ð after Mr. TrudeauÕs unilateral announcement in the House of Commons. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said the decision is a ÒbetrayalÓ of the co-operative approach the Prime Minister had promised and that the tax would devastate his provinceÕs economy. Mr. Trudeau essentially told premiers to adopt a carbon tax or cap-and-trade plan or Ottawa will impose its own levy Ð a minimum of $50 a tonne by 2022 Ð and return the revenue the provinces. It comes as the Liberal government is embroiled in a dispute with the provinces over health-care funding, and signals the Prime MinisterÕs determination to exert federal leadership in areas where the premiers largely had free rein for the past decade under the Conservatives. Saskatchewan Environment Minister Scott Moe left the Montreal environment ministersÕ meeting before it concluded, as did Nova ScotiaÕs Margaret Miller, and Perry Trimper, Minister of Environment and Conservation for Newfoundland and Labrador. ÒToday is not a good day for federal-provincial relations,Ó Mr. Moe said. ÒWeÕre struggling a little bit to understand where the Prime MinisterÕs message came from today, and whatÕs going to happen moving forward,Ó Ms. Miller said. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says his province is leading the country in reduction of greenhouse gases by cutting emissions in the electricity sector, but does not want to impose higher taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels. Mr. Trudeau has long promised that Ottawa would

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 12, 2016

Liberal government’s carbon tax plan provokes anger from provinces

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an ultimatum to the provinces on Monday, announcing his government’s plan to set a minimum carbon tax even as environment ministers were meeting in Montreal to discuss options for carbon pricing.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday March 4, 2016 Ottawa willing to impose carbon price if impasse drags on The federal government is prepared to impose a national price on carbon if Canada's premiers fail to come to an agreement on their own, CBC News has learned. Putting a price tag on pollution would pit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government against some provincial premiers who see the move as another blow to an enfeebled economy. Trudeau is meeting with premiers and territorial leaders today in Vancouver. A senior official close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Liberal government campaigned on environmental change and won a majority. "We feel that we've got a mandate to do it. And we want to do it in co-operation with the provinces," the official said. "But at the end of the day we are going to do it." Federal action isn't imminent, but Ottawa won't allow carbon price talks to drag on indefinitely. "This should be a conversation about how we are going to price carbon, not whether," said the source. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been the loudest critic of a carbon tax, saying it will only hammer an already sluggish energy sector. Wall told reporters on Wednesday that he wasn't alone in his position, and that's been backed up in public and private statements by officials from other provinces here in Vancouver. "You're going to hear a lot more about carbon management than carbon pricing," said one premier in explaining the view in their private meetings. Five provinces already have a price on carbon. Penalizing polluters financially is aimed at curbing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. (Source: CBC News) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carbon-price-cap-and-trade-first-ministers-meeting-vancouver-1.3473524 Canada, provinces, Christy Clark, Phillippe Couilliard, Kathleen Wynne, Rachel Notley, Justin Trudeau, Brad Wall, Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, carbon, tax, environment, climate change

March 4, 2016

Several provinces and territories reacted angrily – three environment ministers walked out of the federal-provincial climate talks – after Mr. Trudeau’s unilateral announcement in the House of Commons. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said the decision is a “betrayal” of the co-operative approach the Prime Minister had promised and that the tax would devastate his province’s economy.

Mr. Trudeau essentially told premiers to adopt a carbon tax or cap-and-trade plan or Ottawa will impose its own levy – a minimum of $50 a tonne by 2022 – and return the revenue the provinces. It comes as the Liberal government is embroiled in a dispute with the provinces over health-care funding, and signals the Prime Minister’s determination to exert federal leadership in areas where the premiers largely had free rein for the past decade under the Conservatives.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Tuesday September 20, 2016 Trudeau's challenge is to lead on pricing carbon and building pipelines Canada's first commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was made by Brian Mulroney in 1988, at an international conference on the "changing atmosphere" in Toronto. It was pledged then that Canada would seek a 20-per-cent reduction in its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2005. Two years later, that target was adjusted to merely stabilizing GHGs at 1990 levels by 2005. Still, that would have kept emissions to 613 megatonnes per year. Instead, in 2014, the last full year for which data is available, Canada emitted a total of 732 megatonnes of greenhouse gases, a 20-per-cent increase since 2005. If Mulroney had put Canada on a path to achieving that target of 1990, if Jean ChrŽtien or Paul Martin or Stephen Harper had set Canada on its way to achieving any of the targets they subsequently set, Justin Trudeau would now be heading into a merely interesting fall, the biggest issue of which would be the negotiation of new health accords with the provinces or the consideration of a new electoral system. In November, he is due to meet the premiers to finalize a national plan on climate change, or at least the makings thereof. By Dec. 19, his cabinet must decide whether to approve the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal that would transfer oil from Alberta to the port of Vancouver. And between those two, Trudeau gets to wrestle with questions of federalism, the national economy and the future of humanity on a warming planet. The climate change plan seems likely to include some kind of mechanism for pricing carbon.ÊÊAnd while putting a price on carbon has become the focal point of debate about what to do about climate change, pipelines have, fairly or not, become a focus of attention for those who worry about the impact of GHGs on the planet. The prime minister has, either explicitly or implicitly, committed

September 20, 2016

Saskatchewan Environment Minister Scott Moe left the Montreal environment ministers’ meeting before it concluded, as did Nova Scotia’s Margaret Miller, and Perry Trimper, Minister of Environment and Conservation for Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Today is not a good day for federal-provincial relations,” Mr. Moe said.

“We’re struggling a little bit to understand where the Prime Minister’s message came from today, and what’s going to happen moving forward,” Ms. Miller said. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says his province is leading the country in reduction of greenhouse gases by cutting emissions in the electricity sector, but does not want to impose higher taxes on gasoline and diesel fuels.

Wednesday April 15, 2015Mr. Trudeau has long promised that Ottawa would impose a minimum carbon price on provinces unwilling to adopt their own system, but on Monday, he seized the leadership from premiers, who have insisted on the right to regulate carbon emissions as they see fit.

The Prime Minister said he will convene a first ministers’ meeting on Dec. 8 with the aim of concluding a pan-Canadian climate plan, which would include carbon pricing and other measures. (Source: Globe & Mail)