Wonk Wednesday Archives - Page 4 of 15 - Canada's Ecofiscal Commission

Jun 21 2017

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

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. […]

Jun 14 2017

Policy interactions untangled: Carbon pricing and low-carbon fuel standards

by Jonathan Arnold

Climate and Energy Carbon Pricing Carbon tax Complementary Policies Wonk Wednesday

Canada will have a nationwide carbon price by 2018. As such, it’s time to think about how carbon pricing interacts with other, non-pricing climate policies. Ecofiscal’s latest report, considers how the right non-pricing policies can support carbon pricing in driving low-cost emissions reductions… but also how the wrong policies can undermine carbon pricing. In this blog, I […]

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 26 2017

Road salt — a costly way to fight winter

by Brendan Frank

Livable Cities Technology and Innovation Economics for the Rest of Us Wonk Wednesday

As winter recedes and spring fills the air, Canadians find the chalky residue of salt everywhere. Road salt is an inexpensive option to clear our streets of ice and snow, but the damages to our cities and environment cost us in the long run. Can ecofiscal policies offer a potential solution? Or might another policy toolkit […]

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 […]

An Open Letter from Economists on Canadian Carbon Pricing

Wonk Wednesday