Will the new government find its place in the sun?
Over the past year’s build-up towards the Paris Climate Summit in November, several events have transformed the landscape of the climate change issue. One might suggest we’re at a tipping point. As Amory Lovins, chief scientist at Rocky Mountain Institute, has said, “Paris may mark the crucial shift of the climate conversation from cost, burden, and sacrifice to wealth creation, jobs, and competitive advantage.”
Even for a resource-dependent economy like Canada the forecast is rosy: last week the Council of Canadian Academies stated that “the economic growth of Canada would not be negatively impacted … if we started to implement the kind of policies that would help us move to a low-emissions system.”
If the new Liberal government has the will, the tools they need already exist. The Council’s Marc Jaccard concluded “We already have the commercial technologies to get where we want to go.” A national price on carbon is the place to start.
Paul Grace-Campbell
Kaslo