Climate Leadership Plan to reduce carbon pollution moves Alberta forward Environment Minister Shannon Phillips has introduced Bill 20, the Climate Leadership Implementation Act This proposed law implements key elements of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan, and will create jobs by investing in a higher-value, lower-carbon, energy-efficient economy.
Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan is widely supported in both the energy industry and in civil society. The proposed law will help Alberta do its part by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, and improving the energy efficiency of the province’s homes, businesses, and public buildings. “Our plan to reduce carbon pollution will diversify the economy, create jobs, protect the health of Albertans, and erase any doubt about Alberta’s environmental record,” said Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks; Minister Responsible for the Climate Change Office. “It’s the right thing to do today and for future generations. Climate change denial is wrong for our economy and it’s wrong for our Alberta’s future.”
If passed, the proposed legislation would:
- Set in law Alberta’s carbon levy and carbon levy rebate
- Ensure revenue from the carbon levy is invested into actions that address climate change; and,
- Establish Energy Efficiency Alberta.
The $20 per tonne carbon levy will take effect on January 1, 2017. Every penny raised through the carbon levy will be reinvested in Alberta to reduce carbon pollution and provide rebates to help Albertans adjust. Sixty-six per cent of Alberta households will receive a full or partial rebate.
The legislation would also establish Energy Efficiency Alberta as the provincial agency that will develop and deliver provincial-scale energy efficiency and small scale renewable programs and services.
“This is a new day for energy efficiency in Alberta,” said Jesse Row, executive director, Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance. “Creating Energy Efficiency Alberta is big step forward and will allow Albertans to reduce their carbon footprint while saving money at the same time.” To launch programming in early 2017, the Alberta government is taking the steps it needs to get the agency up and running as quickly as possible. In consultation with Albertans and stakeholders, the agency will design programs to help people better understand and manage their energy consumption and footprint, and reduce their overall energy costs.
Bill 20 would also amend the Corporate Tax Act, to reduce the small business tax rate, which will help small businesses adjust to the price of carbon. Effective January 1, 2017, the rate will be lowered from three per cent to two per cent. The Act would also ensure the carbon price currently applied to large emitters could be invested to the benefit of all Albertans. The proposed legislation was fully supported by Kevin Lecht, Business Manager, The International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers local 110 (Alberta), and Steve Clayman, director of energy efficiency initiatives for TIAC.
Both proclaimed the program’s potential to reduce emissions and establish meaningful energy efficiency in the province. “It is through improving the energy efficiency of the built environment that we can help reduce the effect of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Clayman.
Smart carbon policy means pricing carbon broadly, and this is exactly what Alberta’s new carbon levy does, said Prof. Bev Dahlby, Distinguished Fellow in Tax and Economic Growth at the School of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary.
“Carbon pricing is the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and Alberta’s strengthened policy will help the province support a strong economy and environment into the future,” she said. “Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission believes that each province needs to choose wisely how it recycles the new revenue.
“By investing in rebates for affected families, tax cuts for small business, green infrastructure and clean technology the Government of Alberta has done just that.”