British Columbia has the best carbon pricing scheme in Canada. That’s the conclusion of a national survey and analysis of climate policies compiled by Sustainable Prosperity, a progressive think tank based at the Univeristy of Ottawa.
According to a Globe and Mail report, the authors of the study invested a year speaking with top economic, business and environment leaders across the country before identifying eight key principles of a carbon pricing plan—think tranparency, reach, simplicity, and so on. The group then applied those principals to score Canada’s existing carbon laws and proposals. B.C.’s carbon tax, introduced a year ago, scored an 87. It fell short in the areas of national reach and long-term impact.
The group also informally examined the limited cap-and-trade policy that B.C.’s New Democratic Party is presently campaigning on. Sustainable Prosperity’s carbon-pricing director told the Globe that her group’s “score card would rate [it] as the weakest policy in Canada.” With few details of that plan yet available, the group was only able to conduct a back-of-the-envelope analysis. It was enough, though, to suggest that New Democrat’s plan would introduce “huge instability and doubt” to the market.
