Blog: Climate and Energy

Jun 5 2019

Switching GHG accounting systems is not a solution

Is Canada’s greenhouse gas emission problem just an accounting issue? Is the GHG measurement system used by the UNFCCC fundamentally flawed, unfair to Canada, or both? Would switching systems make achieving our targets easier and solve concerns around emissions leakage? Short answer: not so much. The status quo: “territorial-based” GHG inventories Let me start by […]

May 22 2019

Gear shift: Alberta’s climate policies poised for big changes

by Dale Beugin and Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Alberta Carbon Pricing Provincial Policy Revenue Recycling

Today, Alberta’s newly-elected government will table the Carbon Tax Repeal Act. If the bill proceeds as expected, the carbon levy could be gone as early as next week. However, that doesn’t mean the end of the province’s climate policy discussion. We’ll use this blog to explain what the changes mean within and beyond Alberta. The […]

May 14 2019

Arguments for and against “supply-side” climate policies

by Jason Dion

Climate and Energy Carbon Coordination Carbon Pricing Complementary Policies

Our April blog about supply-side climate policies generated some online discussion. Some comments focused on the bigger, global picture. Others focused on the nuts and bolts. In particular, we got questions about our “leakage” assertion—namely, that if Canada cut back its production of fossil fuels there would just be an offsetting increase elsewhere that more or […]

May 3 2019

Summary of Saskatchewan Court Decision on the Federal Carbon Pricing Law

by Stewart Elgie

Climate and Energy Carbon Pricing Ecofiscal Commissioners Provincial Policy Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) is constitutionally valid; it falls within federal authority under the “National Concern” power – a branch of the Peace, Order and Good Government power. What is the decision? 3 of the 5 judges joined in this majority opinion. The two […]

Apr 24 2019

Carbon pricing is boring

by Dale Beugin

Climate and Energy Cap-and-trade Carbon Pricing Carbon tax Provincial Policy

If you judged by Twitter alone, you could be forgiven for thinking carbon pricing was as controversial as the colour of a certain dress. And look, I get it. On one hand, there’s increasing apprehension around the costs of climate change. On the other, there’s anxiety around the affordability of a low-carbon transition. Combining those […]

Apr 10 2019

Feeling good without actually doing good

by Richard Lipsey

Climate and Energy Carbon Pricing Ecofiscal Commissioners Oil & Gas Sector

I join with most Canadians who have come to accept the reality of climate change and with those who agree that the emissions from burning fossil fuels–mainly coal, oil, and natural gas−are a major cause of such change. I also join with most Canadian by asking: What can we do to keep our climate from […]

An Open Letter from Economists on Canadian Carbon Pricing

Climate and Energy