Ottawa's new carbon pricing plan will reward clean companies
Environment Canada is launching public consultations this winter to get feedback to draft legislation
The federal government added more meat to the bones of its core environmental policy Monday by releasing draft legislation on how pricing carbon pollution will work in Canada.
The new legislation is the federal backstop and will apply to all provinces that haven't created their own system and put it in place by September 2018.
Here are three things to take away from the proposed legislation:
Use more, pay more: Companies that exceed the average energy use for production in their sector will have to pay a carbon levy. Those that are under the average energy use by 30 per cent or more will get a credit for saving energy. The proposed output-based pricing system is similar to what's now being used in Alberta.
Waiting for electricity: The carbon price will affect all industrial sectors, including the oil and gas industry, refineries, pulp and paper and food processing. Fuel producers and distributors will also have to pay. But while the price on carbon will also apply to the electricity sector, it could take longer to decide how to apply the new system to that sector.
You are probably already covered: About 80 per cent of the Canadian population is already covered by existing carbon pricing systems. So far B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have full carbon pricing systems in place.
The price on carbon pollution will start at $10 a tonne this year and increase to $50 a tonne by 2022.
Environment Canada is launching public consultations this winter to get feedback from industry, provinces, Indigenous groups and the public.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna expects most industries to accept the legislation as a practical solution to balancing the environment and but also maintaining a competitive economy.
"We don't want to send Canadian companies abroad to pollute," said McKenna in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics.
"We want to have a system that creates an incentive for them to innovate to reduce their emissions, but also do it a way that recognizes that some other places don't have a price on pollution."
Ottawa's new carbon pricing plan will reward clean companies | CBC News
Environment Canada is launching public consultations this winter to get feedback to draft legislation
The federal government added more meat to the bones of its core environmental policy Monday by releasing draft legislation on how pricing carbon pollution will work in Canada.
The new legislation is the federal backstop and will apply to all provinces that haven't created their own system and put it in place by September 2018.
Here are three things to take away from the proposed legislation:
Use more, pay more: Companies that exceed the average energy use for production in their sector will have to pay a carbon levy. Those that are under the average energy use by 30 per cent or more will get a credit for saving energy. The proposed output-based pricing system is similar to what's now being used in Alberta.
Waiting for electricity: The carbon price will affect all industrial sectors, including the oil and gas industry, refineries, pulp and paper and food processing. Fuel producers and distributors will also have to pay. But while the price on carbon will also apply to the electricity sector, it could take longer to decide how to apply the new system to that sector.
You are probably already covered: About 80 per cent of the Canadian population is already covered by existing carbon pricing systems. So far B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have full carbon pricing systems in place.
The price on carbon pollution will start at $10 a tonne this year and increase to $50 a tonne by 2022.
Environment Canada is launching public consultations this winter to get feedback from industry, provinces, Indigenous groups and the public.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna expects most industries to accept the legislation as a practical solution to balancing the environment and but also maintaining a competitive economy.
"We don't want to send Canadian companies abroad to pollute," said McKenna in an interview with CBC's Power & Politics.
"We want to have a system that creates an incentive for them to innovate to reduce their emissions, but also do it a way that recognizes that some other places don't have a price on pollution."
Ottawa's new carbon pricing plan will reward clean companies | CBC News
