The Government's…

The Government's cancellation of the Cap and Trade program was very shortsighted even at the time it was announced. The recently released IPCC report, Urgent Transformational Change, and the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Economics to Paul Romer who says that carbon taxes are the solution to climate change, underscore the need to put a price on carbon emissions as soon as possible.

As identified by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, the following principles must be included in Ontario's response to the urgent and essential need of a carbon tax:
- the need to be consistent over time; the best example of this is the United Kingdoms Climate Change Act. The key components include legally binding long term emissions limits, successive carbon budgets for a decade or more in advance based on non-partisan expert advice and reporting.
- needs to have good effective consultation with the public.

I am extremely supportive of the Tools to Reduce Emissions as outlined in the ECO report, Climate Action in Ontario What's next; namely:
- investing in new emissions reduction technology
- significantly conserving energy and increase Ontario's clean electricity supply
- preparing to minimize fossil fuel use in transportation, buildings and industry.

The Ontario government also needs to:
- understand Ontario's key vulnerabilities and protect natural ares that buffer extreme events;
- provide trustworthy data on the future the climate that new infrastructure must be built for; and
- encourage Ontarians to increase their own resilience to what lies ahead.

I and my family strongly support the ECO's summary of key recommendations:
1. Commit to targets and law
2. Plan a pathway
3. Take action
4. Check and improve.

I cannot fully express my horror and disappointment in the current government's attitude to climate change given the current IPCC report and Nobel Prize Economics award this past weekend. The message cannot be any clearer that the future for today's generation is bleak indeed if we don't act swiftly and effectively.