We wish to formally register…

We wish to formally register our opposition to Bill 4, Cap and Trade Cancellation Act - 2018. The recent findings from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change update are a sobering wake-up call to all governments and underscore the need for greater urgency and increased ambition with respect to greenhouse gas emission targets, to ensure that we keep climate change and global warming within safe limits. The science is in, and it is irrefutable. The report confirms that Climate Change is an existential threat demanding our immediate attention and that we must reduce emissions 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Putting a price on carbon has been identified as a proven effective means to achieve this goal. In fact, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics, has just been co-awarded to William Nordhaus, for his work on climate change, and the advantages of a tax on carbon emissions to address this problem. It has now been acknowledged as a Nobel prize winning strategy.
Dianne Saxe, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario reported that Ontario’s GHG emissions in 2016 were the lowest since reporting in 1990; we achieved our 2014 target of 6% below 1990 levels, and our climate change strategies have been credited with increasing funds for environmental initiatives, attracting foreign investment and spurred growth and jobs in the environmental sector. Commissioner Saxe stressed the need to act quickly and build upon the best of previous programs. Ontario became a world climate leader after years of hard work that included:
Closing coal plants;
Slowing urban sprawl and promoting conservation;
The 2009 Green Energy and Green Economy Act;
The 2016 Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act and its Cap and Trade system
Joining the shared carbon market with California and Quebec; and
Joining the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.
Programs to reduce emissions benefit from regulation and a stable system, with sufficient time to grow and attract investments. Programs that reduce emissions are negatively impacted by rapid changes of policy. The Environmental Commissioner stressed the need to minimize disruption from cancellation of previous programs.
The Environmental Bill of Rights also requires that any act that will affect the environment must be open for public consultation.
Bill 4 requires that the Government establish targets for reducing the amount of GHG emissions in Ontario, and prepare a plan including regular progress reports. However, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, has not yet made public its plans to confront one of the most pressing issues of our day, climate change. In the absence of a scientifically-based, comprehensive plan, which has undergone thorough debate and public consultation, any action to cancel the current Cap and Trade system, would be a retrograde step. It would leave us presently with no climate policy, no emission targets, a loss of revenue from trading participants to fund environmental solutions, financial liability for cancelled projects, and no control over climate polluters. The decision to repeal this Act, at a time when scientific findings call for more stringent targets to reduce emissions, would be a reckless and irresponsible move on the part of the present government, which we strongly oppose.
We therefore request that you do not cancel the Cap and Trade, withdraw Bill 4, and make public your plans to address climate change. We recommend you divert the billions paid in fossil fuel subsidies to investments in clean, renewable energy, emissions reduction technologies, conservation and initiatives to reduce fossil fuels use in transportation and buildings, thus creating more jobs. We further request that you introduce policies that would ensure that the polluter pays for damages to the environment and human health, and that the necessary funds be made available for adaptation programs. The health and safety of the citizens of Ontario and future generation and our responsibility as global citizens with respect to climate change depend on this and should be a top priority.