In responding to the…

In responding to the preparation of a climate change plan, Ontario government carries out Bill 4 to wind down the cap and trade program. Cap and trade program are certainly not the only policy that Ontario government can use to reduce GHGs (greenhouse gases) emissions. However, the cancellation of cap and trade instruments does not assist emission reductions. Ontario is facing a huge climate challenge, it requires all citizens, private sectors and the government to make some changes and sacrifices for our future generation. This policy action came across many sectors and can cause an increase in GHG emissions and negative impact on Ontario’s economy.
Bill 004 can potentially increase GHGs emissions, health costs and more. There are average 120 deaths per year that are caused by heatwaves in Toronto. Every five Celsius that are increased adds four deaths per day [1]. Smoke from wildfires poses serious air quality problems across the Ontario. The smoke contains small particles that can be inhaled through people’s nose which can trigger terrible health problems such as asthma and heart disease. The federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development announced that “severe weather events have resulted in rising costs to government at all levels in Canada, to all Canadians” [1]. Furthermore, dairy cattle died due to extreme heat and humidity in Ontario. There are also increasing flooding events and heat waves happening in Ontario. Climate change has hit Ontario and the provincial government must take actions. Provincial government has key roles that no party can replace. It is the government’s responsibility to set rules and incentives to help achieve emission reduction targets. Prior to the publication of Bill 004, private sectors had to adopt technology innovations or change certain practices to lower carbon emission. In terms of infrastructure, organizations such as Canada Green Building Council developed industry standards to help implement sustainable design and construction practices. Since 2005, Canada Green Building Council certified LEED projects which successfully reduced 2.49 million CO2e ton. Technology and organizations are available to help make the transition, but they can’t do it without strong leadership from the provincial government. Ontario’s government’s role on emission reduction is irreplaceable. However, the mechanism is no longer there anymore, and polluters have no financial incentive to reduce their emissions while a series of rebates offered by the Ontario government for energy-efficient renovations has been cancelled [1]. Ontario’s average annual temperature increased 1.6 Celsius since 1948 and it is faster than the global average. Meanwhile, climate policy, emissions targets, funding for green solutions no longer exist. Polluters are rewarded, and good conduct is not rewarded.
Even though Bill 004 can also possibly increase Ontario’s economy, climate change costs more money and it actually affects Ontario’s economy in a negative way. Less restrictions for private sectors can lead to certain types of business expansion. Companies such as petroleum Ontario Petroleum Institute creates jobs for Ontario’s economy in multiple ways such as providing direct jobs to workers. As these companies grow and bring more profit to the provincial government, climate changes are costing Ontario a lot of money. Toronto’s flooding in 2013 insured more than 940 million dollars [1]. In 2014, Burlington’s flooding affected 3000 homes and 90 million dollars were insured [1]. In 2017, the flooding occurred at Toronto Island’s caused Ontario government 16 million dollars so far and it will cost another 25 million dollars for the next 10 years [1]. Climate changed has increased wildfire management costs for about 120 million for the past decade and caused more than three billion losses [1]. Thanks to the cap and trade program, 1.9 billion was successfully generated and it was directly used to fund to improve infrastructure such as electrical vehicle charging stations. In 2017, there were about 5000 companies are working on clean technology and generated 130,000 job opportunities. Now, all these positive impacts from the cap and trade program are gone and the cancellation of the bill brings a lot of negative impacts on Ontario’s economy. It diminishes all the previous work. The removal of the cap and trade program leaves no clarity or guidance for companies to what these green initiative companies should work towards to. Meanwhile, the provincial government are losing carbon pricing revenues as much as 2.9 billion dollars and five million was lost in compensation. The future of Ontario doesn’t look very well.

It is admitted that Bill 004 can bring back the economic advantage of carbon-intensive investment. Tax payments from these companies will increase as these investments are increased. However, the cost of delaying legal action on climate change will cost way more in a long run. Taking actions such as the cape and trade program can drastically reduce GHGs and raise more funds for green initiative companies. The warming in Ontario will keep bringing more extreme weather such as wildfire and flooding. If the provincial government don’t take legal action to dramatically decrease the GHG emissions, our future generation will live under a far more sever, widespread and irreversible global impacts.