Pollution Archives - Page 5 of 10 - Canada's Ecofiscal Commission

Jul 12 2017

Backhanded complements, redux: complementary policies and linkage

Lately on the Ecofiscal blog, we’ve gone on at length about designing complementary, non-pricing policies that support — and not undermine — carbon pricing. Our focus, as always, has been policies that reduce more emissions at lower cost. But pretty clearly, some governments are also implementing some relatively high-cost policies. Today, I want to […]

Jul 5 2017

Alberta’s coal phase-out as a benefit-expanding policy

by Jason Dion and Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Pollution Alberta Complementary Policies Provincial Policy Wonk Wednesday

Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan is more than a carbon tax. It is a package of policies designed to reduce emissions. One of the cornerstones of this policy package is the phase-out of coal-fired electricity by 2030. But to what extent does this policy genuinely complement Alberta’s carbon price? Today, building on our previous blogs on […]

Jun 21 2017

Fixing a hole: The role of gap-fillers in a climate policy package

by Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Pollution Carbon tax Complementary Policies Wonk Wednesday

In our latest report, Supporting Carbon Pricing, we delve into complementary climate policies – that is, non-pricing policies that do things carbon pricing cannot. There are three different types of policies that can genuinely complement carbon pricing: gap-fillers, signal-boosters, and benefit-expanders. Today, in the first of a series of three blogs, we look at gap-fillers. […]

May 17 2017

The Curious Case of Counterfactuals

by Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Pollution British Columbia Carbon Pricing Works Carbon tax Wonk Wednesday

We’ve consistently made the case that carbon taxes work. But what does it mean if emissions rise over time, even with a carbon tax in place? It might mean that the price is too low, but it sure doesn’t mean the tax isn’t working. Interestingly, there’s a Canadian case that reflects this exact trend. B.C. […]

May 3 2017

How emitters respond to carbon pricing and to revenue recycling

by Dale Beugin

Climate and Energy Pollution Technology and Innovation Carbon Pricing Revenue Recycling Wonk Wednesday

A carbon price pretty clearly creates incentives for emitters to produce fewer GHG emissions. But there’s more than one way to reduce emissions. In today’s blog, I’m going to dig into the vault, and pull out an old piece of modelling analysis that didn’t quite make it into our reports, because it was a little […]

Apr 12 2017

Paved Paradise: Could congestion pricing work in Ottawa?

by Brendan Frank

Livable Cities Pollution Congestion Pricing Polluter Pay Traffic Transit Wonk Wednesday

Two weeks ago, the Healthy Transportation Coalition (HTC) held a forum at the University of Ottawa. The subject: congestion pricing in our nation’s capital. The HTC hosted six expert speakers for a lively debate (including our research team’s fearless leader, Dale Beugin). The same day, four Ottawa city councillors released a new report on congestion […]