A carbon price is the most practical way to combat greenhouse gas emissions, and Canada’s provinces should arrive at their own pricing mechanisms rather than waiting for federal government action, Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission concluded in a report released yesterday.
“We actually think there are real advantages to taking these actions provincially, and part of the evidence for that is that provinces are already acting,” Commission Chair Chris Ragan of McGill University told CBC. “The sooner we get policies in place that change corporate and household behaviour and start to drive those emission reductions, the better off we’ll be.”
The Commission adds that carbon pricing helps the economy by directing revenues from taxing pollution back to the provinces. “The report recommends that provinces increase their prices on carbon over time,” McDiarmid writes. “The commission says the pricing should be tough enough to provide incentives to cut emissions, and the price should apply to the largest number of polluters possible.”
