Kathleen Wynne says doing nothing would be costlier than cap-and-trade
Critics are calling cap-and-trade a tax grab, but Premier Kathleen Wynne says to do nothing to fight global warming would cost the economy far more.
A news conference Monday, Wynne said that Ontarians are already paying for the effects of climate change in higher insurance premiums, among other things.
“Climate change is not a distant threat . . . we are talking about something . . . already imposing costs on the people of Ontario,” she said. “The sooner we get carbon pricing in place the better.”
The government estimates the 2013 ice storm cost $200 million in insurance payouts, while severe floods in the Greater Toronto Area resulted in nearly $1 billion in damages.
Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Wilson, however, called the plan put forward by Wynne “a carbon tax by any other name.”
“When businesses pay more, consumers pay more . . . it’s a tax on everything,” Wilson said.
A cap-and-trade system discourages carbon emissions through a complex system of credits. While details were scarce, Wynne did acknowledge that motorists can expect to pay 2.5 to three cents a litre more at the pumps under the proposed plan.
Wynne told the Toronto news conference that while gasoline prices can be expected to increase, “that has to be seen in the context of all the other savings” related to reducing greenhouse gases.
Beyond gasoline, the announcement revealed little on exactly how consumers can expect to be impacted.
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news...es-gases.html?referrer=https://www.google.ca/
Critics are calling cap-and-trade a tax grab, but Premier Kathleen Wynne says to do nothing to fight global warming would cost the economy far more.
A news conference Monday, Wynne said that Ontarians are already paying for the effects of climate change in higher insurance premiums, among other things.
“Climate change is not a distant threat . . . we are talking about something . . . already imposing costs on the people of Ontario,” she said. “The sooner we get carbon pricing in place the better.”
The government estimates the 2013 ice storm cost $200 million in insurance payouts, while severe floods in the Greater Toronto Area resulted in nearly $1 billion in damages.
Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Wilson, however, called the plan put forward by Wynne “a carbon tax by any other name.”
“When businesses pay more, consumers pay more . . . it’s a tax on everything,” Wilson said.
A cap-and-trade system discourages carbon emissions through a complex system of credits. While details were scarce, Wynne did acknowledge that motorists can expect to pay 2.5 to three cents a litre more at the pumps under the proposed plan.
Wynne told the Toronto news conference that while gasoline prices can be expected to increase, “that has to be seen in the context of all the other savings” related to reducing greenhouse gases.
Beyond gasoline, the announcement revealed little on exactly how consumers can expect to be impacted.
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news...es-gases.html?referrer=https://www.google.ca/
