Blog: Climate and Energy

Oct 20 2016

Driving towards cleaner transportation: low-carbon fuel standards

Canada is moving full-steam ahead on carbon pricing. But what other policies might best complement carbon pricing? We’re in the midst of exploring this question, but our most recent report on biofuel policies found that flexible performance standards, including low carbon fuel standards (LCFS) might be a better complement than existing biofuel policies. First things […]

Oct 12 2016

Stop subsidizing biofuels

by Chris Ragan

Climate and Energy Biofuels Carbon Pricing Ecofiscal Commissioners Opinion

Carbon pricing is becoming a mainstream part of Canadian policy. Four provinces have or will soon have carbon prices, one more has made a commitment to do so, and the federal government is now promising to fill in the gaps. The emergence of a nation-wide carbon price signals that the time has arrived to reconsider […]

Oct 5 2016

(Dis)Incentives by Design: Carbon pricing and biofuels in Canada

by Jonathan Arnold

Climate and Energy Biofuels Cap-and-trade Carbon Pricing Carbon tax Wonk Wednesday

A core plank of carbon pricing is that it provides an incentive to use lower-carbon alternatives. In the case of transportation fuels, carbon pricing should make fossil fuels relatively more expensive compared to things like biofuels or other emerging low-carbon technologies, and make petroleum fuels less attractive. But do the four carbon pricing systems in […]

Oct 4 2016

TLDR: The skinny on Ecofiscal’s latest report about biofuel policies

by Jonathan Arnold

Climate and Energy Biofuels Carbon Pricing TLDR Report Facts and Summaries

The Ecofiscal Commission’s latest report, Course Correction, looks at the economic and environmental case for biofuel policies in Canada. If you don’t have time to read the report, here’s what you need to know. Canadian governments have supported the production and use of biofuels for over two decades (see here for a quick intro to […]

Sep 14 2016

Self-driving cars: A techno-utopia or an eco-nightmare?

by Guest Blogger

Climate and Energy Livable Cities Pollution Technology and Innovation Air Pollution Clean-tech Traffic Wonk Wednesday

by Simon Altman Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla will have a fully autonomous car ready by 2020, and Tesla is not alone. As this technology moves from dream to reality, some have started to discuss the opportunities it will present, while others are stuck dwelling on the risks. In this blog we explore these […]

Sep 7 2016

The Beef with Beef

by Jason Dion

Climate and Energy Air Pollution Wonk Wednesday

Beef often gets a pretty hard time when it comes to its environmental impact. In this blog, I take a look at why that is, and what we could do about it. First things first Before we get into it, let’s begin with an important preamble: 1) Personally, I think beef’s delicious 2) I’m not […]

An Open Letter from Economists on Canadian Carbon Pricing

Climate and Energy