Alberta’s government says it will maintain a price of frozen carbon industrial tax by 2026, putting the province with federal rules.
Prime Minister Danielle Smith announced freezing in May, saying that Alberta’s price would remain at $ 95 per ton of emissions for an indefinite period of time.
Alberta was ready to increase the price to $ 110 per ton from next year, in line with the federal schedule, but now he says he maintains freezing in place by 2026.
“We are giving the industry certainty, stability and economic relief they deserve,” said the press secretary of Environmental Minister Rebecca Schulz in a statement.
The Canadian carbon industrial tax program allows the provinces to implement their own program provided that the provincial policy is held up to date with the prices established by Ottawa. The federal schedule currently sees that the price increases to $ 170 per ton by 2030.
It is assumed that the federal support rate is implemented if the provinces are left behind, but it remains to be seen if Prime Minister Mark Carney would impose the highest price, especially because it has not taken measures against Saskatchewan, which completely fell its industrial carbon price at the beginning of this year.
Experts, such as the Professor of Energy Law at the University of Calgary, Martin Olszynski, say that Alberta’s movement is not illegal, but puts Carney’s responsibility to act.
“The federal regime is essentially a lever, so they impose that additional price … to reach the level that they say it is appropriate or they do not,” said Olszynski in an email.
Environmental groups have asked Carney to enforce the federal rate in Alberta next year.
But Smith says he is working with Carney to solve the concerns he has about the industrial carbon scheme, just as they continue to speak to solve the difference on the federal limit of greenhouse gas emissions.
“It is one of the things we are talking about,” Smith told reporters in Calgary on Wednesday. “We understand the conversation about having a progressively higher rate … but I think [Carney] He also understands that some of the proposals to get there by 2030 would have been to kill and kill projects.
“We knew we needed to send a little signal to the prime minister and the market that we think at this time [$95] It is what the market will carry, “he said.
“Over time, there may be some capacity to increase without affecting these projects, and that is the conversation we have with the federal government at this time.”
The Carney Office did not immediately answer the questions about whether it would apply the highest price. The Office of the Federal Environment Minister, Julie Dabrusin, did not give a definitive answer, but said in a statement that Ottawa will collaborate with Alberta in a new way to follow.
“We are still ready to collaborate with Alberta in a path that supports workers, strengthens competitiveness and takes advantage of the opportunities of the clean economy while we keep the rules that protect all Canadians,” says the statement.
His office added that he still believes that the fixation of industrial carbon prices is an effective policy tool, something Smith also recognized on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to give up that lever completely, and I don’t think the defenders of the industry that are invested in [emission reducing] Technologies also do so, but we have to make sure the price is established correctly, “said Smith.
Stephen Legault, senior manager of the Environmental Defense Defense Group, said that neither Alberta nor Ottawa are acting as if they really think that politics is effective.
“I think it would be absolutely surprising if the federal government under Mark Carney applies the backup,” Legault said, added that Carney seems to be embarking on “the systematic reversal of climate change efforts.”
