We at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada are in the business of creating political will for a livable planet with a laser-focus on carbon pricing, long considered the best tool to reduce carbon emissions. This work must not stop even during the pandemic now gripping the world.
Just because we’re in one crisis right now doesn’t mean we can forget about the other one — the climate crisis that we are also facing as a world and as a country. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Good News, Bad News
The good news is the Canadian parliament and 500 communities have declared climate emergencies.
The bad news is the most recent data show Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) rose by 15 megatonnes in 2018.
Before you start pointing fingers, please read on.
With the right policies, including a revenue-neutral carbon pricing policy as a core component of a cost-effective climate plan, Canada can exceed our climate targets, help save lives, improve health, conserve nature, promote equity and be poised to capture part of the 26 trillion dollar opportunity in climate-smart growth by 2030.
In 2018, Canada enacted the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. It establishes a minimum national cost for GHG emissions. First, it places a charge on specified GHG-producing fuels (the Fuel Charge). Second, it establishes a carbon pricing system applicable to large industrial emitters of GHGs, which pay a carbon price if their emissions exceed a set level.
The bulk of the fees collected under the Fuel Charge are returned to households, and 80% of households come out ahead, a finding confirmed by the Parliamentary Budget Office and others.
But unfortunately, the federal government is facing strong headwinds against them when trying to enact evidence-based climate policies
What happened in Ontario?
Ontario is responsible for 10 of Canada’s 15 megatonne rise in GHG emissions in 2018.
In 2018, the Ford Government unlawfully passed the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act which rolled back the province’s relatively progressive climate targets, replacing them with a significantly weaker 2030 target. Unfortunately, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario all have filed challenges to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and we await the rulings of the Supreme Court of Canada for those cases.
Their actions go against mountains of research.
Specifically, 27 Nobel Prize-winning economists and thousands of economists worldwide support carbon pricing similar to what we now have in Canada with a few tweaks.
Economic modeling, that you can test yourself at Climate Interactive and the Pembina Insititute, both show that carbon pricing is a core component of a cost-effective climate plan.
What specifically is needed for Canada’s carbon pricing policy to avert climate disaster?
- Canada must increase the national carbon price past 2022 to at least $220 tonne by 2030.
- The carbon price must continue to be revenue-neutral. As well, unless the rebates that voters receive are readily apparent as a cheque or bank deposit (rather than an income tax adjustment), an increase in carbon price to $220 per tonne or more will not be acceptable to many voters. Thus, the carbon pricing revenue must be distributed back to Canadians as cheques or bank deposits
- The carbon price must be economy-wide with minimal principled exceptions and all measurable GHGs be priced.
- The climate emergency is a global problem. Thus, Canada needs to encourage foreign countries to adopt their own carbon fees. However, we must recognize Canada is a small country and we could get clobbered in a trade-war if we are not careful. We must continue to work in partnership with climate-friendly countries as we have been doing in the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition since 2015. Specifically, we recommend that Parliament study Border Carbon Adjustments as soon as possible and follow closely what the European Union is doing.
But Carbon Pricing Is Not Enough
Also, in addition to carbon pricing, we need a suite of complementary climate policies to make sure the transition to a low carbon economy over the next 20 years is fair and equitable.
We are in a climate emergency. We must use evidence and empower our politicians to listen to the experts and cooperate for the climate crisis as they have done so remarkably well for the COVID pandemic.
This is where Citizens’ Climate Lobby contributes, to aid the timely implementation of strong policies.
For detailed information about our request please read our 2020 Carbon Pricing Guidelines.
Please join us at our online Spring Rendezvous on Monday, May 11, 2020, where the top-minds and best volunteers on the planet will gather to help build political will for a liveable world. Registration closes May 8.
Note: The content of this piece is sourced from a Press Release issued by Citizens’ Climate Lobby on Earth Day.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
If we truly want to help our politicians solve the climate crisis, I respectfully suggest that we move beyond false hope stories. It’s past time for us to come to grips with the stark reality of our existential crises. And no story does that better than a new documentary film “Planet of the Humans”, directed by Michigan filmmaker Jeff Gibbs, I highly recommend it.
I have posted the film and accompanying information on my blog under this linked title : subtitle: “Al Gore, Bill McKibben and others sold us out to wealthy interests years ago, for ‘green illusions’” : Documentary film a shocking wake-up call to the stark reality of human-caused climate catastrophe. (ShortLink: https://wp.me/pO0No-5cz )
As the film clearly depicts, “we have fallen for illusions, ‘green’ illusions, that are anything but green” – including, for example, so-called renewable solar and wind, clean energy technologies, biomass, and electric cars.
Here’s a partial list of the scoundrels who sold us out: Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Richard Branson, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Van Jones, Koch Brothers, General Motors, 350.org, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sierra Club, and Elon Musk.
This is a long (1-hr, 40-min) information-rich, evidence-based film that captures scenes of these rogues actually lying to the film’s director, Jeff Gibbs. Personally, I found the film emotionally exhausting. Nothing could have prepared me for the distressing image of the orangutan at the very end of this film.
The film premiered at the Michigan Film Festival in July 2019. It was proclaimed the “The Most Important Documentary of the Century”. Three days ago, on April 21, producer Michael Moore made the film available on his You Tube site. To date, it has already received 1,219,333 views and 12,500 comments.
Anger and action are warranted. I’m damned angry. And I’m going to spread the word about this film among friends, politicians, journalists, environmentalists, and whoever else comes to mind. I encourage you to share it with your family, friends and associates. It is particularly important, I suggest, to bring it to the attention of students active in the climate change movement, for they have been so cruelly deceived by these fraudsters.
Sadly, based on my 10 years of blogging, much of it about the existential crises we face, the evidence suggests we have entered terrifying, uncharted territory. I’ve read too many articles based on false hope, especially those promoting simplistic variations of a Green New Deal.
A controversy is brewing over Planet of the Humans. Consequently, please note that I have removed Planet of the Humans from my website until further notice.
The primary reason: On April 22, Bill McKibben alleged in writing that the documentary makes false allegations and misrepresentations about him.
As well, American film director and environmental activist, Josh Fox has reportedly criticized the film for “factual errors and for edging close to eco-fascism in calling for population control.”
NOTE: As of 9:00 a.m. Monday, April 27, Planet of the Humans remains available on You Tube.
I’m just going to wait to see how this controversy plays out. Meanwhile, I’ll track updates to this story.
Hi Frank. I’m glad you’ve posted a second comment re Planet of the Humans. Actually I was somewhat surprised at the glowing review you posted in your first comment.
Although there are some alarming truths in the film, it relies on innuendo and distortions to attack activists and discount the importance of renewables. Much of the information used is dated and does not reflect the advances we see on a daily basis. It proposed no solutions. It’s alarmist and serves no purpose in our struggle to deal with the climate crisis.
I remain disgusted with the film.
We’ve posted this article in Below2C – by Ken Johnson who is my climate colleague and Below2C partner.
https://bit.ly/2xea0QS
Thank you for sharing your comments.
The only way to help politicians is to put the ones in office that take the problem seriously. Talking to any of the 3 incumbent parties is an exercise in futility.
Yes Max we need a new style of politicians who think longer term rather than just the 4-year election cycle.
Thanks for your comment.