聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Let鈥檚 accept Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 presumption that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 carbon pricing is not a solution to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After all, Wall offers ample reasons for his argument.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As Wall noted in an op-ed piece recently published in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Trudeau鈥檚 climate-change solution proposal is 鈥渂oth simple and seductive.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎 carbon tax is applied. Money is collected, money goes out. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions go down,鈥� Wall wrote.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he problem is that there is little evidence this works, and yet it risks jobs and competitiveness in carbon-intense sectors such as energy, manufacturing, mining and agriculture.
聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n British Columbia, often touted as the example of carbon-tax efficacy, emissions have increased since 2010.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Wall also rightly noted in the Globe and Mail piece that Saskatchewan 鈥渉as a disproportionate share of Canada鈥檚 trade-exposed industrial sectors鈥� plus 鈥渁 significant portion of Saskatchewan鈥檚 GHG emissions relate directly to getting our products to the world market.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But let us accept 鈥� as Wall did in his whitepaper on the economy released last week 鈥� that GHGs are a real problem contributing to global warming.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽鈥淭here is no denying it. We have a problem; a problem that has to be solved for the sake of current and future generations,鈥� said the executive summary of Wall鈥檚 white paper. 鈥淐limate change is real...
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n the last decade, global temperatures have been higher 75 per cent of the time when compared to the last 11,300 years.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The problem is that what Wall is offering seems no more productive than what we now see with Trudeau.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sure, Wall obviously has to make many considerations that go beyond the environment.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Carbon pricing would not only impact Saskatchewan鈥檚 oil and mining sectors but also our critical farming sector that would likely see its inputs.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Like those in the mining and oil sector, that would put Saskatchewan farmers at a distinct disadvantage in competition with those in other countries.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One of the more positive alternatives Wall proposed in his White Paper on Climate Change is carbon sinks that would recognize the many farming practices that actually address greenhouse gas emissions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Practical things like zero till do need to be acknowledged, especially in relation to a national carbon tax being applied to critical industries like farming.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But if Wall is right in his white paper鈥檚 premise that adaptation and innovation are far more effective tools to fight climate change than taxation, one might have expected to see much more innovation and adaptation in his plan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It wasn鈥檛 there.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 His white paper emphasized that there are more than 2,400 new coal-fired power plants planned or under construction around the world that would pump out nearly nine times Canada鈥檚 annual GHG emissions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But Wall鈥檚 solutions that call for a doubling of the funding for climate change adaptation research and partnering with the federal government through SaskPower to develop carbon capture of storage doesn鈥檛 really do much to reduce existing GHG emissions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nor does the paper offer any information on how much all this will cost and where we will get the money from 鈥� other than from the federal government.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, Wall鈥檚 white paper also calls for 鈥渞edeploying its $2.65 billion, five-year commitment to developing countries to deal with climate change鈥� and adding it to the existing Low Carbon Economy Trust.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If we are going to sell to developing nations like China and India where many of those 2,400-plus coal-fired plants are being built, does it make sense to cut off funding to them? Is that the best way to fight a global problem?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Wall鈥檚 white paper will be immensely popular with the business community and likely the province as a whole.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But it just doesn鈥檛 seem to be any better a solution than the one Trudeau has come up with.
