[All] Support Carbon Fee & Dividend for Ontario!

[Louisette Lanteigne]

I meant WORLD bank not word bank. Before relaying to others you might want to fix that one.
If ever you get a perfect letter from me without spelling errors you should seriously question it's validity. 
By the way, a little bird, with great connections, stated that Ontario may make an announcement of their plans to be CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2050. To soon to spread that info far though but rest assured, we have great folks working towards that vision. 
Have a good one! 
Lulu :0)
      From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
 To: "all at gren.ca" <all at gren.ca> 
 Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 7:24 PM
 Subject: [All] Support Carbon Fee & Dividend for Ontario!
   
Carbon Plan for Ontario is in the works! 
Years back Ontario signed on to the Western Climate Initiative along with other provinces and US states to commit to pricing carbon. Today, Ontario's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray is committed to getting a Cabon pricing plan in place. Earlier there was an Environmental Bill of Rights posting on this issue and this weekend I found out we have approximately 1 month left to influence this policy and to show public support before the plan is finalized and released. 
The preferred path forward...Citizens Climate Lobby Canada would like to extend an invite to all Ontario residents to ask their MPP's to support a Carbon Fee and Dividend program where folks pay an added fee at the time of purchasing fossil fuels and then the funds gathered are redistributed to the public by way of tax dividends to secure a "revenue neutral" system. This program is already in place in BC today. What we need is lots of public support from citizens and community groups to help shape this policy. Letter to MPP's letters to the editors are all appreciated at this time so please feel free to relay this email! 
With that said, I will provide this quick overview on Canada's existing carbon policies, criticisms and insights with a focus on agricultural impacts towards the end seeing that it plays such a huge part in Ontario's economy.
CANADA'S EXISTING CARBON FEE & CAP AND TRADE POLICIES: 

The background: Western Climate InitiativesIn 2008, BC, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario joined US states: California, New Mexico, Arizona, Washington Oregon, Utah and Montana with the goal to develop a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Collaboratiively they made up 20% of the US GDP and 76% of Canadian GDP. 
Since that time, Quebec formed a Cap and Trade system with California, 
Overview of BC's Carbon Fee and Dividend program : priced at $30/tonnehttp://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/tbs/tp/climate/carbon_tax.htm
Overview of Alberta's Cap and Trade system : priced at $15/tonnehttp://www.co2offsetresearch.org/policy/Alberta.html
Overview of Quebec's Cap and Trade System http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/changements/carbone/Systeme-plafonnement-droits-GES-en.htm#brief

California and Quebec: Harmonized system of Cap and Trade The “Agreement between the California Air Resources Board and the Government of Quebec Concerning the Harmonization and Integration of Cap-and-Trade Programs for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions” can be found in English and French at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/linkage/linkage.htm 
Results of Cap and Trade auctions for Quebec: 
December 3, 2013 cleared at the lowest possible price of $10.75 per metric tonne.
http://ghgaccounting.ca/#/page/quebecs-first-cap-trade-permit-auction-results

March 4 2014 cleared at the lowest possible price of $11.39 per metric tonne. http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/changements/carbone/ventes-encheres/resultats-vente20140304-en.pdf

Nov. 2014 cleared at $12.10 per metric tonne
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/auction/nov-2014/summary_results_report.pdf

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:
Criticism of Quebec/California/ Alberta cap and trade system by Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord MillerEnvironmental Commissioner Gord Miller strongly recommends that Ontario go the way of BC's system which may be "the greatest system in the world". It takes funding from the source of fuel, then returns funds back to consumers directly with a greater measure of accountability. It's not as easy to track how money is spent with the cap and trade systems and the data is buried deeply. It is not visible on the price of gas. It's a tax on industries from oil refining and it doesn't limit the impact of regular citizens.  It is limited in scope on the number of sectors it limits emissions from. In Alberta it is only used to improve technology to increase efficiency in energy sectors. http://globalnews.ca/video/1771713/energy-commissioner-says-ontario-carbon-tax-should-follow-bc-model

Criticism of Alberta's Cap and Trade when compared to BC's Carbon Tax by PembinaThe Alberta regulation only targets very large sources of carbon pollution in the province, requiring those companies to reduce the intensity of their emissions by just 12 per cent. It also gives companies two options that excuse them from actually reducing their emissions: buying offsets or paying $15 per tonne into a technology fund. When it’s applied to only 12 per cent of emissions, that $15-per-tonne fee actually works out to just $1.80 per tonne on average — and has done almost nothing to slow the growth of carbon pollution.B.C.’s carbon tax applies to most sources of carbon pollution in the province at the source, and has an effective price of $30 per tonne. Since B.C.’s carbon tax was introduced, the province met its 2012 emissions reduction target and per capita fossil fuel use has dropped relative to the rest of the country.  B.C.’s experience already provides a worthy, reliable and affordable example the rest of the country could follow.http://www.pembina.org/blog/albertas-carbon-pricing-not-best-in-canada-example
Word Bank on BC's Carbon Tax vs. the rest of Canada. It has been estimated that economic growth in British Columbia has been on par with the rest of Canada whilst the tax has been in force. The BC carbon tax had a significant environmental impact. From 2008, when the tax was introduced, to 2011 British Columbia reduced its GHG emissions per capita from sources subject to the carbon tax by a total of 10%, while the rest of Canada only reduced their emissions from the same source types by 1% over the same period. The reduction in fuel consumption was even stronger. The per capita consumption of fuels subject to the BC carbon tax declined by almost 19% compared to the rest of Canada in this four-year period. This is equivalent to a 5% per year decrease inconsumption compared to the rest of the country, breaking away from the historical trend of fuel consumption which was in line with the rest of Canada.http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2014/05/27/000456286_20140527095323/Rendered/PDF/882840AR0REPLA00EPI2102680Box385232.pdf


David Suzuki: Carbon Cap and Trade vs. Carbon Tax. Cap-and-trade has one key environmental advantage over a carbon tax: It provides more certainty about the amount of emissions reductions that will result and little certainty about the price of emissions (which is set by the emissions trading market). A carbon tax provides certainty about the price but little certainty about the amount of emissions reductions.A carbon tax also has one key advantage: It is easier and quicker for governments to implement. A carbon tax can be very simple. It can rely on existing administrative structures for taxing fuels and can therefore be implemented in just a few months. In theory, the same applies to cap-and-trade systems, but in practice they tend to be much more complex. More time is required to develop the necessary regulations, and they are more susceptible to lobbying and loopholes. Cap-and-trade also requires the establishment of an emissions trading market.http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/climate-solutions/carbon-tax-or-cap-and-trade/_____________________________________________________________________________
IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE
Alberta Cap and TradeIn Alberta, farmers can sell carbon credits to heavier polluting industries and in exchange receive a check worth the value of carbon per tonne that they offset. If they are heavy carbon users they must buy credits from other farmers instead to offset what they've burned. It can be beneficial or costly depending on how much energy a farm uses. Certain farming practices can dramatically reduce fossil fuels such as till free farming. 
BC Carbon Tax Exemptions for Farmers: The BC carbon tax relief grant for commercial greenhouse growers, including vegetable and floriculture growers, wholesale production and forest seedling nurseries includes a grant set at 80 per cent of the carbon tax paid on natural gas and propane used for heating and carbon dioxide production.  A carbon tax exemption, effective January 1, 2014, for coloured gasoline and coloured diesel fuel purchased by farmers for the same farm purposes that farmers are authorized to use coloured fuel under the Motor Fuel Tax Act. This means that farmers will be exempt from carbon tax on the purchase of coloured gasoline and coloured diesel fuel used for farm purposes, including in on-farm equipment and in eligible farm trucks on the highway. These measures will provide a combined benefit of about $11 million annually.
Criticism of BC's carbon tax exemptions for greenhouse and floriculture: Exemptions are not needed Since 2012, greenhouse vegetable and floriculture growers in BC  have received tax relief that cover 80 per cent of the tax paid on natural gas and propane for greenhouse heating and carbon dioxide production. But a new study released today from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions finds that the agriculture trade doesn’t appear to have been affected by the carbon tax. “I don’t want to be too harsh on the agriculture sector. It’s an inherently volatile industry and challenging and uncertain, but there is no evidence that the carbon tax, pre-exemption, pre-rebate, had an effect,” says Brandon Schaufele, an economist at Western University who co-authored the report with University of Ottawa economist Nicholas Rivers. http://www.bcbusiness.ca/natural-resources/bc-farmers-unharmed-by-carbon-tax-studyB.C. Farmers Unharmed by Carbon Tax: Study | BC BusinessHave a good one! Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.Waterloo Ont.N2V 2L2









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