Energy Probe

All of the leading and most cited Canadian economic models equate cap and trade to carbon taxes.  For any given market price for quota, the models anticipate that the market will react to a "cap and trade" regime in exactly the same way that it will react to consumption taxes of equivalent price. The models fail to recognize that a quota-based supply management regime is far more than/different from a production or consumption tax.

I have pointed out, previously, that every nation that relies heavily on carbon taxes and/or feed-in tariffs as GHG mitigation/climate change measures has ended up delivering massive and continuing green subsidies to industry—while passing more than 100% of the incremental cost of carbon taxes, cap-and-trade compliance costs and Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) to their residential customer bases.  

Dr. Jaccard's recommended regulatory and policy recommendations are ineffective and inefficient, largely because they are made to fit a theoretical world and not the real one we live in. It is not sufficient for Dr. Jaccard to look up the facts and integrate them—although that is a first step—into his modelling. Most importantly, he needs to start asking and exploring one key question: why does the world not actually work as per his theory?  It is only through the exploration of the variance between his modelled world and the real one we live in that he can position himself to truly grasp how investment and consumption decisions are formed and to then develop policy and regulatory recommendations that have a chance at being effective and efficient.

Cap and trade is often celebrated as a “market-based” approach to solving environmental problems. But when we look at what really spurred environmental action—cap and trade is nowhere to be found.

More on the debate surrounding gasoline produced from Alberta’s oil sands. 

In a society that believes in certain basic standards of welfare, to be efficient, the tax regime has to be at least neutral if not progressive. Taxes on the consumption of luxury goods can be progressive. But taxes on the consumption of essential goods and services (including energy) always eat up more of the disposable income of poor families than wealthy ones.

EPA issues first US Federal Facility permit to include legally binding GHG limits for a proposed new gas-fired power plant in California. This is a breakdown of the project.

Talk of Canada’s stimulus package not being as “green” as its American counterpart is way off the mark.

Every time the US has implemented a cap and trade regulation—the first one was in1977—its primary political objective was trade protectionism. And every time the US has done so, the measure has successfully drawn investment capital away from nations on which Americans have traditionally relied for imports into the US.

No. This is a gasoline versus diesel fuel story.