I disagree with the movement…

I disagree with the movement by the Conservative government to back track on many of the environmental acts that had been instituted by the previous government. There are numerous positive repercussions for our economy, the world and our children if we keep these environmental policies intact. I realize that there may be good reasons to modify the legislation, espeically if it makes it better. Scrapping it altogether removes a significant number of jobs from our economy as well as sets us back, and will put us behind, instead of ahead of the curve. I would also like to include these specific points below:

1. The best market-based way to reduce greenhouse gases is a price on carbon, either a direct tax or a cap-and-trade system. In both cases, the government can return the income it earns to the people, so it is not a “tax grab”. And the whole point is for businesses and individuals to take steps to reduce their carbon emissions so they don’t have to pay it. Removing greenhouse gases is the least we can do as a civilization, to help stem the effects of climate change. Insurance companies are already promoting fighting climate change because they realize they will not be able to compensate for the extreme weather events that will only become more common.
2. Ontario's Cap and Trade system, linked with Quebec and California, has brought about $3 billion into our province in its first 1 1/2 years and was paying for actions that further reduce greenhouse gas emissions - like upgrades to buildings, rebates for electric cars, and incentives for innovation. There is nothing progressive about eliminating support to individuals and (especially small) businesses to assist greener developments or improvements to homes or public buildings.
3. Eliminating the Cap & Trade program has already had a negative impact on the economy in the form of the loss of local contractor jobs supported by home energy retrofit programs.
4. Most of Ontario’s carbon emissions come from buildings (particularly how we heat them), and transportation. We must reduce these to reach our current emissions target of 30% below 2010 levels by 2030. Winter, and much hotter summers are a fact of life now in Ontario, and only better made homes, and retro fitting existing homes will curb our use of fossile fuels and energy in general. These changes can be expensive for individuals to make on their own because the charge is often all at once, instead of over time like a hydro bill. But those changes lower hydro bills and the amount of strain on our hydro infrastructure.
5. Canadians produce about 20 tons of greenhouses gases per person per year, compared to about 9.2 tonnes per person in Norway (another northern country), 6.9 tonnes per person in Europe on average, 7.7 tonnes per person in China, and 1.9 tonnes per person in India.
6. A recent scientific study (reported here in The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/17/world-waking-up-to-…) says that we must stop burning fossil fuels within 10 to 20 years to avoid runaway climate change that may destroy all life on Earth. Even so, there are scientists who are saying it may already be too late. What future are we leaving for our children?
On the up side, another recent paper (reported here in Huffington Post https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/runaway-climate-change-2030-report_… ) says that if humanity dramatically reduces greenhouse gases within the next 3 years, the resulting “grand economic transformation could bring a $26 trillion economic windfall, create 65 million new jobs, and avoid 700,000 early deaths linked to air pollution.” We in Ontario should be leading the way towards these economic benefits, not dragging our heels and being left in the dust.

I thank you for taking the time to read this and I seriously encourage you to change your intentions in this matter.