Alberta Passes Carbon Tax

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When the left swept into power in Canada last May, one of the first things Premier Notley did was appoint a panel to address carbon emissions. Remarkably, Alberta created a carbon tax both environmentalists and the oil industry view "largely favorable"...

Alberta's new carbon tax isn't revenue neutral. That's the best thing about it.

Alberta's new carbon tax isn't revenue neutral. That's the best thing about it.
Updated by David Roberts on November 25, 2015

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The incredibly rapid development of Alberta's climate plan
Last spring, Notley appointed a five-member Alberta Climate Leadership Panel, headed by University of Alberta energy economist Andrew Leach, who is well-known and respected in the world of energy wonks. The panel traveled around the province and heard from thousands of individuals, groups, and businesses about what they wanted from climate policy. They took all the feedback into account and hashed out a comprehensive, ambitious plan — all in six months.

It's difficult to exaggerate how crazypants this is. It's as though North Dakota were taken over by the Green Party and launched California-scale climate policies less than a year later.

Yet reaction has been largely favorable; the plan has been endorsed by both environmentalists and the tar sands industry. (Again: so Canada.)



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[AvgGuyIA]

Good. We have a laboratory experiment to observe how a carbon tax will destroy an economy and put people out on the street.

 

[Iceweasel]

How much would a fart cost me up there?

 

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How much would a fart cost me up there?

It's possible your farts could cost you a small fortune. Methane is one of the greenhouse gasses that will be targeted by the carbon tax. While methane is a small percentage of most farts, given the volume of your farts...


Although the strategy would cap emissions from oilsands developments at 100 megatonnes, that limit would still leave the controversial industry room to grow; the oilsands currently emit 70 megatonnes per year.

In the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision earlier this month to reject the $8-billion (U.S.) Keystone XL pipeline proposal, Notley argued that the NDP proposal would help rehabilitate the province’s environmental reputation and help ensure the sustainability of its energy sector.

In a largely supportive statement, Tim McMillan, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, echoed that view. “We expect today’s announcement to further enhance the reputation of our sector and improve our province’s environmental credibility as we seek to expand market access,” he said.


By cleaning up their own act, Canada's trading partners will probably begin buying more Tar Sands Oil. "The six-month-old government says the previous weak climate policies hampered efforts to persuade the United States and other trading partners to accept more shipments of crude from the carbon-intensive oil sands."
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