I am writing to indicate my…

I am writing to indicate my disgust and disappointment with the Ontario government’s cancellation of cap and trade and the 2016 Climate Change Mitigation and Low-carbon Economy Act. Ontario needs to act immediately to curb climate change – there is no time to waste. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report issued in October 2018 indicates that in order for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to remain below 1.5 degrees Celsius we, globally, must immediately begin cutting carbon emissions. The report also indicates that carbon pricing is the most effective way to incentivize behaviour change. Cancelling cap and trade, particularly without another plan of action to immediately implement, is not a mistake that we can afford to make. The impacts of climate change will cost Ontario billions of dollars if we do not take action and the humanitarian implications are enormous. The existing program in Ontario presented an effective means to reduce GHG pollution while creating opportunities for investment by rewarding companies and individual citizens that reduce and abate emissions.

The new climate plan needs to lay out firm action to address primary sources of carbon pollution in Ontario: transportation, industry, buildings, agriculture, and waste. The new plan that is put in place must be built around achieving science-based GHG reduction targets, actual hard GHG reduction goals, and new programs designed to reduce GHG emissions.