October 10, 2018 –…

October 10, 2018 – Environmental Registry # 013-3738

Thank you for giving me a chance to comment on your proposal to cancel Ontario’s carbon cap and trade program. In my own view, your proposal is going in exactly the wrong direction – a horrendously dangerous direction for the future of our planet. But this is not just my own view; more importantly, this is also the consensus view of the world’s scientific and economic community. Just this week, the IPCC’s latest report gave the world its most stark warning yet. As the IPCC’s own news release stresses:
“limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.” (IPCC news release, October 8, 2018)

So clearly Ontario - and all other jurisdictions - need much faster and more effective ways of bending their carbon emission curves downwards. Ontario’s emission reduction projections are not anywhere near what the IPCC calls for – even if cap and trade goes ahead. But your proposal to not only cancel cap and trade but also fight the federal carbon tax essentially takes all economic instruments off the table. It cripples your ability to act.

Your proposal also flies in the face of advice from the world’s top economists. Just this week, the Nobel Committee awarded its 2018 prize Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to two economists for their work examining the interplay between the economy and climate. The Nobel Committee’s news release (October 8, 2018) noted that:
Climate change is a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen."
These market failures suggest that government interventions, via policies such as carbon taxes or emission quotas with a global reach, could be very valuable.

Uncoupling Ontario’s economy from a dependency on fossil fuels; encouraging low-carbon and renewable energy sources; and safely storing carbon in Ontario’s soils and forests – all of these goals depend on us putting a real, effective price on carbon. Right now. We don’t have five years to wait. You have the tools in hand to move us in the right direction. Polls show that Ontarians want to see action on climate change. They also want smart, green 21st century jobs for themselves and their kids. A price on carbon will set the stage for exactly those kinds of jobs. I plead with you to act in the interests of our children and the planet they will inherit. Please put a strong, effective price on carbon.