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Environment committee Based on the conversations I have heard about the American approach, it would seem they favour the tradable permit approach. It is certainly possible to opt for a carbon tax, call it what you will. These two measures will have similar effects in some regards, but different in others.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee The province of Alberta was the first North American jurisdiction to do so.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee I don't know of any, and that's part of the issue of credibility, but then it may be that I'm not exactly up to date on what all other countries are proposing to do. But I would be remiss not to say that I think we need to act on greenhouse gas emissions reductions in Canada. We are one of the world's most energy-intensive countries; we are one of the world's most emissions-intensive countries.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee There are two aspects here. First of all, the problem of climate change that we are facing is global and worldwide. Whatever action Canada takes, regardless of what all other countries do, will have essentially no effect on the problem itself. Canada produces about 2% of greenhouse gas emissions.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee That is probably about right. I won't question that.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee It depends on the measure of intensity and the assumptions you make about GDP growth. We're not going to get into a numbers game, but the notion that it requires a bigger effort than what has been delivered in the past is something that I am comfortable with.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee The 2050 targets, for example, are in keeping with what a number of countries have suggested they are going to do. They are broadly consistent with what the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. have been talking about for some time. The issue is the transition to the longer term.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee If permits are auctioned, there is no problem because everyone can buy them anywhere, but if policies target certain industries or sectors and those sectors are granted a certain proportion of the permits, we will have to determine the emissions level by industry and grant a certain number of permits.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee I agree with what Professor Dissou has said about setting this up. In a sense, you don't need exactly the same targets to reduce uncertainty. To reduce uncertainty you need to have a target that's credible--and you're going to get there. That will reduce uncertainty. The issue after that is cost.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee Yes, and I have said so before in committees--not in this chamber, but in others.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee Of course, the less waste you produce the more productive you are, but that's true across all factors of production, not just one in particular. You could become more efficient, if you want, in using one factor, but at the cost of becoming less efficient in the mix of factors for that kind of thing just as quickly.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee Sure. I think we would be spending less on energy, but that doesn't mean that overall we'd be more productive.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee Not necessarily lower cost, either, in part because to substitute for this energy you'd have to do something else. So now it becomes a case of whether this something else you're doing is actually “cheaper” than using the energy.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde
Environment committee Indeed, the transaction costs would be much lower if we had compatible systems. However, because we have a system of tradable permits, we will have to decide at some point how many permits we will issue, even if we have intensity targets. One way or another, if we opt for a tradable permit market, and if the government decides to issue a limited number of permits, we will have a system which will be capped.
November 26th, 2009Committee meeting
Prof. André Plourde