As information continues to trickle out about the NDP cap-and-trade program, I thought I should go back to the NDP budgets quickly. An issue arose today with respect to the eventual gas price impacts of their cap-and-trade policy, and whether an NDP policy which does not price transportation emissions could reach their budget targets. It could. In fact, the math lines up very nicely. The practical likelihood of getting such a system on line in 2012 remains minuscule, but let’s put that aside for now.
Month: April 2011
On the gas price impact of NDP cap-and-trade
Here’s what you need to know about the NDP program and gas prices. The NDP cap-and-trade program would require “big emitters” including oil refineries and major producing sites including oil sands facilities to buy emission permits at auction, with a price floor at $45/ton. This will increase the costs of producing oil and refining gasoline. … Read more
Tory platform’s dirty secret – my latest Economy Lab post
There’s a hole in the Conservative platform…a hole so big, you could fit Canada’s oil and gas sector or every single one of our fossil-fuel power plants into it. The hole is projected to get bigger, and will be large enough to fit every single car, truck, SUV, train, bus, and ATV in Canada into … Read more
Are the NDP’s cap-and-trade numbers believable?
Earlier today, I had a quick Twitter exchange with Macleans’ Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) with respect to the NDP revenue projections from their cap-and-trade proposal. Coyne’s points, with which I don’t entirely disagree, were that the NDP platform costing document contains implausible claims that a) an auction would yield $3.6 billion revenue in the current (2011/2012) fiscal year, and b) that an auction of 100% of the permits would yield only $7.4-billion in year 4. I thought I would look at both in a few more than 140 characters.
Oilsands debate in Edmonton Centre
I was very happy to see this discussion posted on line on the Edmonton Journal YouTube Channel. The video features each of the candidates in Edmonton Centre weighing in with their positions on the oilsands. I can’t resist the chance to look at some of the arguments, and provide context on each relative to the parties’ positions. I should make very clear that I am not a resident of Edmonton Centre, that I am not member of any political party, and that I am not a supporter of any of the candidates. This post should, by no means, be taken as an endorsement of any of the candidates in the race.
My latest Economy Lab post
The corporate tax implications of each of the parties’ greenhouse gas (GHG) policy proposals will run in the billions of dollars per year. GHG policies will induce significant expenditures, whether they follow the regulatory approach proposed by the Conservatives, the cap-and-trade approaches proposed by the Liberals and the NDP, or the broad carbon pricing approach … Read more
A question for the Green Party
A few of my readers have pointed out that my previous post asking debate questions omitted the Green Party. I firmly believe that the Green Party should have been invited to the debate. While the point is now moot, I feel that if their qualification for federal party funding that is triggered by 2% of … Read more
My top debate questions on energy and the environment
The debates are over, and not one question was asked about energy, greenhouse gas policy, or oil sands. If you want to read what I would have asked each of the leaders, read on…
My Latest on the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab
Here’s how my latest post on Economy Lab at the Globe and Mail ends: “If you are going to let GHG policy influence your vote, you owe it to yourself to get engaged in the discussion and get beyond the easy sound bites.” If you want to read the beginning, click here.