Open Letter on Carbon Pricing READ

Alberta

Oct 30 2019

Introducing TIER – Alberta’s new approach to pricing industrial GHG emissions

by
Climate and Energy

Yesterday, the government of Alberta unveiled the details of its planned Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction Regulation (TIER for short). TIER will put a price on industrial GHG emissions in the province, replacing the previous government’s Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR). How does the policy design stack up?  In this blog, I review some of […]

May 22 2019

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

by and
Climate and Energy

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 […]

Feb 6 2019

Redwater decision is progress, but environmental liabilities run deep

by and
Climate and Energy

by Simon Dyer, Chris Ragan & Blake Shaffer The Supreme Court of Canada last week overturned the Court of Appeal of Alberta’s decision in the closely-watched Redwater legal case. The court’s ruling ensures environmental cleanup costs will get priority over creditors when companies go bankrupt. The Redwater decision reinforces the polluter-pay principle, which is reassuring for […]

Alberta’s oil patch: risks vs. costs
Nov 7 2018

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

by
Climate and Energy

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, […]

Feb 7 2018

Albertans are environmentalists (even if they don’t know it)

by
Climate and Energy Livable Cities Pollution

Canada is a decentralized, sparsely populated and very, very big country. Cultures and attitudes are often regional. Provinces don’t always see eye to eye. As an Albertan living in Ontario, these challenges have become evident in my ongoing dialogue with Albertans—especially when it comes to climate and carbon pricing. It can, on occasion, feel like we […]

Jan 24 2018

Water works in Okotoks: Lessons from a small, fast-growing Canadian town

by
Livable Cities Technology and Innovation Water

Smaller Canadian municipalities face unique challenges when it comes to sustaining healthy water and wastewater systems. To reduce the pressure, many of them are taking multi-pronged approaches to conservation and cost recovery. As we discuss in our latest report, well-designed user fees (i.e., water rates) are effective at curbing water use, but they’re not the […]

© Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission