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Canada's largest province will unveil Thursday its plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the Ontario Minister of the Environment said it would show that the fight against climate change does not require no carbon tax.
Environment Minister Rod Phillips releases the Ford government's climate change plan at 1 pm AND at a press conference in a conservation area in Nobleton, north of Toronto.
The plan will include targets to cut Ontario's carbon emissions, but it will not include a carbon tax, Phillips said in an interview with CBC News.
"Obviously [climate change] is an important priority, "said Phillips.
"It's a problem we've all recognized the need for," he said, criticizing what he called the "dogmatic belief" that a carbon tax is the only way to fight against climate change.
Transportation now accounts for a larger proportion of Ontario's carbon emissions than any other sector, including heavy industry. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)
When asked how the province could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without imposing a price on carbon, Phillips answered his questions.
"I ask all carbon tax advocates: how can they be so focused on one solution when we are dealing with something so complicated?" he said. "Are they dedicated to a carbon tax or are they committed to concrete actions on climate change and GHG reduction?"
The Ford government presents its climate change strategy in the context of its fierce fight with the Trudeau government on carbon pricing. On Wednesday, Ford fired the last blow by blaming the federal government's carbon tax plan for closing its badembly plant in Oshawa, even as GM announced plans to close four US plants at the same time.
Ontario is currently joining Saskatchewan in a legal battle against the decision to impose a federal carbon pricing system on provinces that do not have one. Ottawa has responded by bypbading the Ford government and sending $ 420 million of its Low Carbon Economy Fund directly to cities, hospitals, universities, schools and businesses to help them set up programs to help them. efficiency and other efforts to reduce emissions.
One of Ford's first initiatives as Prime Minister was to abandon the previous Liberal government's climate change plan, which was based on a cap-and-trade program, forcing companies to pay for permits to emit GHGs. Ford has waged a strong campaign against cap and trade, calling it a carbon tax and calling it the "worst tax ever".
"Made in Ontario Solution"
The specific targets for reducing emissions in today's plan will be crucial, "said Peter Tabuns, Ontario's NDP climate change critic.
"Will there be targets that will actually protect people from dangerous climate change?" It is an essential element. [the plan] does not have that, so the rest is not worth considering, "said Tabuns in an interview this week.
"Yes [Phillips] does not have a carbon price, but it shows real projects, real policies that will reduce emissions, and it can show how they would be reduced, and it shows how they will be paid, so that might be credible. " declared Tabuns.
When Ontario Premier Doug Ford, on the right, met with federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer at Queen's Park in October, the two men declared unity in their opposition to a tax on carbon. (Chris Young / Canadian Press)
But he added that he was "deeply skeptical", which will be the case of the Ford government. "They might be interested in public relations, discussions on the subject, but not really."
During the election campaign, the PCs promised to create an Emissions Reduction Fund, providing public funds to companies that offer innovative ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This is a sign that the plan could borrow from the model currently being used by the Australian Conservative government – a plan that has been criticized for its inability to reduce the country's emissions.
Philips said it plans to adopt the plan around the world, including Australia.
"The situation in Ontario is very different from that of Alberta or New Brunswick, because our electricity sector and our grid are almost entirely green," Phillips said. "That's why a solution designed in Ontario makes sense."
Ontario has already reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 22% from 2005 levels, largely because of decommissioning of coal-fired electricity generation, but also because of the decline in manufacturing output in the province since that date.
A report released Tuesday by the UN Office for the Environment indicates that global greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase and that emissions must fall by 55% from 2017 levels. from here 2030 in order to prevent the global average temperature from increasing by more than 1.5 degrees.
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