Alberta plans carbon tax in 2017

Arriving for their first formal meeting with a prime minister in almost seven years, premiers are praising Justin Trudeau’s willingness to take national leadership on the climate change file.

Canada’s political leaders have pledged to step up the fight against climate change, including significantly reducing emissions and polishing the nation’s worldwide reputation, raising prospects for renewable energy developers across the country.

“Premier Notley promised Albertans leadership on the issue of climate change and she and her government have delivered”. About two-thirds of that energy would come from renewable sources, officials said.

Starting in 2017, Alberta will apply a $20-a-tonne price on carbon emissions that will cover about 90 per cent of the economy, including essentials such as gasoline and home heating fuel. She said she was convinced Alberta’s residents will willingly pay higher prices for electricity as a result of the emissions cap, but said the revenues collected under the carbon tax will be returned to help those in need. “We will do our part to address climate change while protecting jobs and industry competitiveness”, he said, speaking on behalf of the province’s top oil-sands producers.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and Health Minister Sarah Hoffman are supporting the province’s plan, saying that the emissions from pollution created directly by burning coal is having a negative impact on the health of Albertans.

Today’s announcement also presents an opportunity to use more natural gas to generate electricity in Alberta as the province accelerates the phase-out of coal-fired electricity generation.

The proposal also includes exemptions for upgrading facilities to encourage new investments within Alberta and comes after Premier Rachel Notley’s government, which won an election in May to end 44 years of Conservative rule, was stung with the United States’ rejection of TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline. While Alberta’s new renewable energy targets are ambitious, they are achievable and can be met while maintaining a reliable electricity grid. “So let us – industry and governments – build on what’s in place to ensure Canada can become a larger and leading supplier of responsibly produced energy to the world”.

Jean says the only good news is the panel didn’t follow the lead of the federal NDP, which he says demanded the oil sands be shut down completely.

“From the Alberta government’s perspective, they may be hoping to get some sizeable credit from the global community for tackling methane emissions”, Leach said. “So I think Alberta following British Columbia on that really helps us make the case that Canadians do care about climate change”.

CanWEA looks forward to working with the Government of Alberta and key stakeholders on the detailed design and implementation of policy measures that will facilitate the deployment of high quality and cost-competitive new wind energy projects in the province.