I am not an economist, nor an engineer, but I am lucky enough to have a twin brother who is an engineer and who does a great deal of work in the field of environmental technology. I know that we can currently do a lot using existing technology to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
I will give you a concrete example. A program was set up in Montreal with the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux to replace furnaces in the city's hospitals using much more efficient heating technology. By doing that, they achieved a 20% reduction in the use of natural gas or fuel oil. Focusing on those approaches would be extremely beneficial.
Earlier on, we talked about the mechanism for carbon credits designed to compensate those who take steps to reduce emissions. If there were a carbon credit market, the Montreal greenhouse gas reduction program with the heating system in the hospitals should be credited. We should be compensated for that program. It would become a very attractive economic incentive. The engineer in charge of the program told me that they did it at their own expense, but that after eight years, the initial cost would be recovered through lower heating bills.