I am writing down these…

I am writing down these thoughts in a mood of dark despair. A UN report just published states that we have just 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe (link 1) and the government of Ontario is scrapping the only plan we have in this province to combat the causes of climate change with no ideas about what to replace it with.

Global warming and climate change are the most urgent problem of the 21st century, one that poses an existential threat to the future of humanity. Throwing away the previous government's climate change policy without proposing a replacement can most charitably be characterized as irresponsible.

A study published earlier this year reported that the world's COS levels are at their highest in 800,000 years (see link 2).

This year saw wild fires in Ontario, BC, California, Portugal and Greece, among many other locations. The highest temperatures ever recorded were observed in the UK (> 300 years), Sweden (> 200 years). Temperatures above 40 were recorded in many countries, including Spain, France, Japan and Korea. Climate change is happening faster than many predictions.

Before discussing what we as a province should be doing to address and mitigate the planetary problem of climate change, I think we should agree on what our goals are.

Our goals:

Within the next 12 years we need to become carbon neutral. We need to be using energy sources that do not emit C02.

This means:
- decarbonizing our electricity system. In Ontario we have already closed our coal-fired power plants. This was a major achievement. We now need to close all of our gas-fired plants. We need to be buying carbon free electricity from Quebec to replace this energy and, indeed, to replace the expensive nuclear power stations that are the true cause of the high electricity bills in Ontario

- relying on non-carbon emitting energy supplies for home heating/cooling, transportation and industry. In addition to using carbon-free electricity, we should also investigate the use energy storage systems that do not involve petroleum, e.g. hydrogen fuel cells, compressed air, that can be loaded with energy via renewal energy sources

How do we get there?

To do this we need to:
- move all transportation to electricity (or other stored energy) generated from non-carbon sources
* this includes electrifying public transit
* for forms of transportation that require fossil fuels, such as aviation, we will need to use carbon based fuel taken from the atmosphere. This technology already exists (see link 3)
- build neighborhoods designed for public transit, walking and bicycling
- build housing that is energy efficient and uses energy from non-carbon sources (electric, geothermal, solar)
- move all industrial energy use to non-carbon sources
- reduce cattle farming (which according to some sources accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions) and take measures to capturing the methane that cattle are responsible for
- capturing the methane from organic waste decomposition

Mechanisms to achieve this

1. Market-based approaches

There are two market-based approaches to reducing carbon emissions, they both involve carbon pricing to incentivize reduced emissions:
1. Cap and Trade
2. Carbon Tax (or Carbon Fee and Dividend)

The current bill on which I am commenting proposes to get rid of the current plan which is based on Cap and Trade. The Ontario government is wasting millions taking the federal government to court to stop the federal government's carbon tax, which a recent report from an organization headed up by Stephen Harper's former policy director would put $300 a year into the hands of each Ontario family ($200 fee, $500 dividend - see link 4).

This government claims to be in favor of free market solutions but is rejecting both free market approaches to mitigating climate change. It is also rejecting the principle of "polluter pays".

By killing Ontario's participation in the Cap and Trade market, Ontario is sending a message to the green industries of the future that it is NOT open for business.

2. Regulatory approaches

The only other approach I can think is a legislative/regulatory approach.

The Ontario government would have to legislate regulations that would force individuals in the province to stop emitting greenhouse gases. It is not clear to me that such an approach would be less costly than a market-based approach, possibly quite the opposite as it would create chaos instead of allowing the market stimulate the creation of solutions to epochal problem we are facing.

Conclusion
I implore you, on behalf of your children and your children's children, to act immediately and with urgency to end carbon emissions in this province. Once we have taken these steps we will then be in a strong position to urge other jurisdictions on this planet to take equally effective measures. Only then will humanity have a fighting chance of survival.