Budget watchdog says meeting climate targets won't ruin economy
A new report by Canada's Parliamentary Budget Office refutes claims that a carbon price would ruin the Canadian economy.
"This should not be dismissed as trivial, but it would also not substantially alter the Canadian economy," said the report.
"This would still leave incomes significantly higher than they are today but lower than what they would have been in the absence of carbon pricing."
It concluded that to meet Canada's international target of 30 per cent reduction in GHGs by 2030, Canada will have to bring its emissions down by 208 million tons.
This is equivalent to taking more than all the gasoline and diesel-powered cars and trucks in the country — including off-road vehicles — off the road.
To appreciate the scale of the work required, the report recommended there would have to be a carbon price as high as $100 a ton to force consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting emissions down dramatically.
However, the report also points out that a price on carbon may not have to be quite that high if industries continue to operate using new technologies that lower their emissions.
The report used the Boundary Dam project in Saskatchewan as example. The project took an old coal plant and cleaned it up using carbon capture and storage (CCS). The process captures carbon emissions from the plant and reuses them in the oil industry or stores them underground.
The cost of that project was equivalent to a carbon price of about $57 a ton, leading the report to conclude CCS has potential to reduce emissions while reducing the impacts of meeting climate targets on the overall economy.
"A number of sectors would potentially benefit from its ongoing development and deployment; for example, electricity generation, cement, chemicals and iron and steel. Over the long term, it could account for a large share of emission reductions."
The report also goes on at length about the need for any new policies and carbon prices to be consistent across the country — a bit of pointed advice for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his provincial and territorial colleagues, who are spending the next six months trying to craft a national climate plan that will include some sort of carbon pricing.
Budget watchdog says meeting climate targets won't ruin economy - Politics - CBC News
A new report by Canada's Parliamentary Budget Office refutes claims that a carbon price would ruin the Canadian economy.
"This should not be dismissed as trivial, but it would also not substantially alter the Canadian economy," said the report.
"This would still leave incomes significantly higher than they are today but lower than what they would have been in the absence of carbon pricing."
It concluded that to meet Canada's international target of 30 per cent reduction in GHGs by 2030, Canada will have to bring its emissions down by 208 million tons.
This is equivalent to taking more than all the gasoline and diesel-powered cars and trucks in the country — including off-road vehicles — off the road.
To appreciate the scale of the work required, the report recommended there would have to be a carbon price as high as $100 a ton to force consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting emissions down dramatically.
However, the report also points out that a price on carbon may not have to be quite that high if industries continue to operate using new technologies that lower their emissions.
The report used the Boundary Dam project in Saskatchewan as example. The project took an old coal plant and cleaned it up using carbon capture and storage (CCS). The process captures carbon emissions from the plant and reuses them in the oil industry or stores them underground.
The cost of that project was equivalent to a carbon price of about $57 a ton, leading the report to conclude CCS has potential to reduce emissions while reducing the impacts of meeting climate targets on the overall economy.
"A number of sectors would potentially benefit from its ongoing development and deployment; for example, electricity generation, cement, chemicals and iron and steel. Over the long term, it could account for a large share of emission reductions."
The report also goes on at length about the need for any new policies and carbon prices to be consistent across the country — a bit of pointed advice for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his provincial and territorial colleagues, who are spending the next six months trying to craft a national climate plan that will include some sort of carbon pricing.
Budget watchdog says meeting climate targets won't ruin economy - Politics - CBC News
