On carbon, it's government first, then the markets
When the Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement was signed 20 years ago, governments did not try to soft-pedal the implementation. There was a phase-in period, but everybody had to take the consequences - good and bad - of increased competition. Why can't we follow the same rules for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Why are Ottawa and the provinces fudging on targets and delaying on action?
We know that voluntary measures do not bring transformative change. After 17 years of voluntarism (the first targets were set by the Mulroney government in 1990), we have failed utterly to reduce emissions. Now the Arctic ice cap is collapsing and the federal Clean Air bill has died.
What governments have to do is give the right market signals to both producers and consumers so they change the way they produce and use oil, gas and coal. Without a road map from governments, few companies and consumers are going to walk the talk.
Canadian consumers know we have to clean up our act. When representative groups of Ontarians considered the energy challenge in 2004, they made it clear that voluntary measures won't work. One consumer told Canadian Policy Research Networks that "we need a kick in the pants."
No comments:
Post a Comment