The Liberal gov't has long said that carbon taxation was only part of the plant, likely even the smallest part of the plan. In order to meet emission requirements environment Canada told McKenna a levy of at least $100/Mt would need to be brought in no later than 2020 to meet 2030 targets. To meet 2050 targets that number would have to rise between $100-200 further. Leaving us with a levy worth between $200-300/Mt. That's somewhere between $0.50 and $0.75 per L on diesel or $10-15/GJ on nat gas. Obviously those sorts or prices would be untenable for a democratically elected government, so the plan all along has been to implement a modest carbon tax, and bring about the remainder through gov't regulation. Renewable mandates and subsidies, forced fossil fuel power plant closures, and regulations on nearly every aspect of life. I'm reminded of a leaked Ontario proposal to mandate 2nd family vehicles be electric. New home heating coming from electric rather than natural gas. New insulation standards in new home construction.
Even things related to new infrastructure can only go so far. Sooner or later older vehicles won't be able to be sold to anyone, or perhaps even registered. Old homes won't pass inspection without significant upgrades. Who knows how far it can go. The idea is to essentially make the costs of changing behaviour indirect. Make no mistake though It's still going to cost us immensely one way or the other.
Even things related to new infrastructure can only go so far. Sooner or later older vehicles won't be able to be sold to anyone, or perhaps even registered. Old homes won't pass inspection without significant upgrades. Who knows how far it can go. The idea is to essentially make the costs of changing behaviour indirect. Make no mistake though It's still going to cost us immensely one way or the other.
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