The Pros And Cons Of Cap And Trade

In 2013, the Obama Administration issued the Climate Action Plan to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 % reduction below 2005 levels by 2020. This plan’s three objectives were carbon reduction, strengthening capacity for climate change response, and leading international cooperation for climate change crisis (White House, 2013). To reduce the

Investments on green infrastructure and clean technologies will be done. With this planned, a subsidies of $2 billion Low Carbon Economy Trust to fund projects that reduce carbon, implement the G20 commitment and phase out the large gifts for the fossil fuel industry. While working with the provinces and territories, they plan to develop a Canadian Energy Strategy to protect Canada’s energy security, encourage energy conservation, and bring cleaner renewable energy into the electricity grid. Over the five years, Justin Trudeau plan to give $2.65 billion to help poor countries fight climate change. The global leaders are planning a financial-plan at the Paris conference that will determine how much will be spent. To combat climate change, G20 countries are estimating that $453 billion subsidizing their fossil fuel industries. It is estimated that the amount of money to be spent on climate change will increase

Replace Cap & Trade Carbon Tax with environmentally responsible initiatives which reinvest revenue in Northern Ontario, a Carbon Tax placed on imports from excessive carbon producing countries of 10%.

Despite its well-known Economic Action Plan and its continued emphasis on the need for more jobs and growth, it is still quite disturbing that the Canadian government gave a cold shoulder to environmental concerns in its 2014 budget. However, what has become clear in the last few years is that Canada is not committed to fighting climate change. In truth, it is not Canada that is uncommitted to the climate change cause. It is its Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who is blocking all efforts to put Canada at the forefront of climate change efforts . And Canada should be leading climate change initiatives because it is one of the largest emitters in the world, and it is also a rich

Ontario has its own creative and effective strategies to combat climate change. One of Ontario’s goal is a low-carbon future. To accomplish this the province started making carbon reductions in 1990 and are on track to reduce carbon emissions by 15% in 2020, 37 per cent in 2030 and 80 per cent in 2050 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). Ontario’s target of reducing emissions by 6% was met on schedule in 2014 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). One of the reasons this has been made possible is because of Ontario’s investment in carbon reduction. For example, in 2015 Ontario committed $325-million payment to Ontario’s Green Investment Fund to support programs that help households and businesses implement

Cap-and-trade is environmentally and economically approach to capping and controlling greenhouse gas emissions which is the primary cause of global warming. It is a policy move aimed at controlling large amounts of gas emissions from a cluster of sources. This approach sets an overall cap which is the maximum amount of gas emissions per a stipulated compliance period, for all the sources under that particular program.

This engagement process was facilitated by the City of Edmonton’s Office of Environment and was in partnership with Alberta Climate Change Dialogue (ABCD) and the Centre for Public Involvement (CPI) (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate Changes, 2013, pg. 1). The goals of the panel, the function and the process were clearly outlined in the Participants Handbook 2012 given to all the panel participants (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate changes Participant Handbook, 2012, pgs. 1-84). The goals of the project were to explore Edmontonians views on the importance of reducing its carbon footprint for future policy and direction. Final recommendations included that “the City of Edmonton take the measures needed to become a low Carbon City by 2050 and six goals (Citizens’ Panel on Edmonton’s Energy and Climate changes, 2013, pg. 1) were determined by this engagement process.

But based on the previous analysis, for Canada, the method that can impact carbon dioxide emissions the most is the carbon tax system. A proper carbon tax will deter fossil fuels and encourage clean energy (Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade?, 2014). The carbon tax will provide a predictable price for carbon dioxide emissions for Canadians. As well, with the carbon tax system, there is more motivation to adhere to regulations because it will become a standard. The revenue generated from the taxation will also assist Canadians by ultimately facilitating greener practices by subsidization and funding environmentally conscious research. Finally, the practicality of reducing emissions under a carbon taxation system is much more functional than the cap-and-trade program. The carbon tax system has been cited to both grow the economy while reducing emissions. That is why a carbon tax system is a superior approach to the experimental cap-and-trade program for reducing emissions and growing the economy (Brander,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the nation by surprise in October 2016 by stating that each province in Canada will need to adopt a carbon pricing scheme by 2018. In addition, Trudeau added that the only other option for the provincial governments will be to impose a cap and trade system in order to follow the Paris Agreement. Countries that follow the agreement must set their own targets for reducing the carbon gases that they emit into the atmosphere. The main goal is to sustain global warming to be under two degrees Celsius. (Paris Agreement Paragraph 2). Revenues made off of the carbon tax will remain with the provinces and territories of origin. With this taxpayer money, each provincial government can decide how the tariffs are distributed.

The B.C. Climate Action Plan has one main objective: to reduce provincial greenhouse gas emissions. This objective takes the form of legislative targets that commit B.C to reduce their emissions and become a carbon neutral province. The Climate Action Plan is comprised of pillars that characterize key tactics that make reaching these goals plausible and realistic.

In July 2017, “Toronto City Council unanimously approved City’s long-term path to reduce city-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050”. A performance goal of 20% per capita GHG emissions reduction by 2035 from 2014 levels was put into effect, based on feasible energy saving opportunities at each facility. Initiatives used to achieve this goal include reducing energy consumption (electricity and natural gas) and increasing the use of renewable energy.

First we should understand how the carbon cap and trade system came about. The system of carbon cap trade used to be known as ‘emissions trading’, the alliance of free-market republicans and renegade environmentalists got the system adopted as national law in 1990 as a part of the Clean Air Act, to control the power-plant pollutants that cause acid rain, which is triggered by vast clouds of sulfur dioxide

In managing the emissions of GHGs(Green House Gases), carbon taxes will be imposed mid 2012. "Economic theory anticipates that with the increased costs of emitting GHGs, drives emitters to downsize their activities." Salem Press (2009)

A sensible plan of creating new advances innovation to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, which they did with acid rain. “ Canada ought to accomplish more, as we are quite a small part of the global issue,” said Brian Mulroney.

Pollution, specifically global warming, is of growing concern to people and governments. It is a controversial issue whose validity is still being debated by scientists. The Kyoto Protocol is an international attempt to address global warming through emissions controls. Traditional neoclassical economic models do not incorporate pollution in rudimentary theories of supply, demand, or pricing, as a result, firms do not consider pollution as a cost of production, which leaves government regulation as the primary method for controlling these externalities. The goal of emissions trading is to allow one business, which can make greenhouse gas emission reductions for a relatively low cost, to sell