(Dis)Incentives by Design: Carbon pricing and biofuels in Canada

(Dis)Incentives by Design: Carbon pricing and biofuels in Canada

Climate and Energy

A core plank of carbon pricing is that it provides an incentive to use lower-carbon alternatives. In the case of transportation fuels, carbon pricing should make fossil fuels relatively more expensive compared to things like biofuels or other emerging low-carbon technologies, and make petroleum fuels less attractive. But do the four carbon pricing systems in […]

Pricing incentives kick butts

Pollution

Cigarette butts are one of the most common types of litter in the world. And while most people would agree that they’re unsightly, cigarette butts are also an environmental hazard and a headache for municipalities. Fortunately, cities such as North Vancouver are pushing for new ways to encourage smokers to stop littering. Could price incentives […]

Self-driving cars: A techno-utopia or an eco-nightmare?

Climate and Energy Livable Cities Pollution Technology and Innovation

by Simon Altman Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla will have a fully autonomous car ready by 2020, and Tesla is not alone. As this technology moves from dream to reality, some have started to discuss the opportunities it will present, while others are stuck dwelling on the risks. In this blog we explore these […]

The Beef with Beef

Climate and Energy

Beef often gets a pretty hard time when it comes to its environmental impact. In this blog, I take a look at why that is, and what we could do about it. First things first Before we get into it, let’s begin with an important preamble: 1) Personally, I think beef’s delicious 2) I’m not […]

Unpacking the WCI: Hangin’ tough

Climate and Energy

Over the past couple of months our summer blog series Unpacking the Western Climate Initiative has taken a look under the hood of California, Québec and Ontario’s integrated cap-and-trade system. In this final installment, we review what we’ve learned and take a look at some recent developments that have been in the headlines. Overall, we […]