Blog: Climate and Energy

Jan 9 2019

Carbon pricing works—even if emissions are still rising

An old, debunked argument against carbon taxes has flared up recently: If total emissions aren’t falling, the tax must not be working. Let’s quash that myth. We at the Ecofiscal Commission and others have written extensively and consistently on this subject (see here, here, here). Without new policies, emissions have been trending up. But bending […]

The coalition government in British Columbia released its own newly-minted CleanBC strategy

Dec 6 2018

Ramping up: Ambitious climate policy returns to British Columbia

by Jonathan Arnold and Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy British Columbia Carbon tax Climate Change Complementary Policies Green Growth Provincial Policy Subsidies

It’s been a pivotal few weeks for provincial climate policy. Ontario released its new climate strategy last week, scaling back provincial targets and replacing its cap-and-trade system with a mix of regulations, subsidies, and a pricing system for heavy emitters. Yesterday, the coalition government in British Columbia released its own newly-minted CleanBC strategy. Happy holidays, […]

Nov 29 2018

Up in the Air: A look at Ontario’s new climate policy

by Jason Dion, Jonathan Arnold and Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Cap-and-trade Carbon Pricing Climate Change Complementary Policies Ontario Provincial Policy

After coming to power, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government got right to work on climate policy. Over the last six months, they’ve dismantled the province’s cap-and-trade program, loosened the province’s emissions targets, and taken the federal government to court over the carbon-pricing backstop; all the while, we were told a new plan was coming. Today, the PCs unveiled […]

Nov 28 2018

We can mitigate climate change and adapt to it at the same time

by Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Climate Change Economics for the Rest of Us

On Black Friday, the world was handed another inch-thick report detailing how climate change will pull us into the red. The Fourth National Climate Assessment, released by the Trump Administration, spelled out in stark terms how climate change will affect everything from America’s infrastructure to its national security, and how it will have to adapt. […]

Nov 23 2018

If you’re a Conservative who opposes carbon pricing, are you really a conservative?

by Chris Ragan

Climate and Energy Cap-and-trade Carbon tax Opinion

At last weekend’s policy conference in Toronto, Canada’s two most important Conservative leaders stood together against carbon pricing. Doug Ford and Andrew Scheer both argue that it is an ineffective tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and constitutes open warfare on Canadian families and businesses. Allied with Alberta’s Jason Kenney, Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Manitoba’s […]

Nov 7 2018

Cleanup liabilities in Alberta’s oil patch: Risks vs. costs

by Jason Dion

Climate and Energy Alberta Catastrophic Risk Oil & Gas Sector Polluter Pay Provincial Policy

Last week, a news story broke with an eye-grabbing headline: Cleaning up Alberta’s oil patch could cost $260 billion. This figure massively exceeded the provincial regulator’s official estimate of $58 billion. Reading a little further down revealed some key details. First, the $260 billion was — according to the Alberta Energy Regulator — a worst-case scenario. Second, […]

An Open Letter from Economists on Canadian Carbon Pricing

Climate and Energy