Ottawa plans to impose the federal carbon tax on Alberta starting Jan. 1 and federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says she has written the province about the decision. “I just can’t buy any of these promises about the carbon tax,” he said in Fredericton where he was meeting with the New Brunswick premier. “Minister McKenna’s own Environment Department has said that it should go up to $300 a tonne to meet Paris climate targets. If you really believe in a carbon tax as an instrument of climate policy, then you need a carbon tax of $200 to $300 minimum to have any meaningful effect on consumption.”Several studies have shown that British Columbia’s carbon tax has reduced that province’s emissions by 15 per cent and reduced its per-capita gasoline and natural gas use. Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon called the time lag before the federal tax is imposed an opportunity.

Source: National Post June 13, 2019 19:28 UTC