Ontario’s decision to cap its greenhouse gas emissions could hasten the road to a global climate deal in Paris at the end of the year.
The Canadian province on Monday endorsed a North American climate change initiative created between Quebec and the U.S. state of California in recent years to place firm limits on its emissions.
The province made the announcement ahead of a climate change summit to be held in Quebec on Tuesday to rally for a national carbon emissions policy that unifies the provinces.
The Ontario agreement could help the Obama administration increase pressure on Canada’s conservative premier, Stephen Harper, who has failed to draft the country’s commitments to emissions reductions ahead of a major United Nations meeting in Paris in December. The goal of the meeting is to hash out a global deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists blame for driving man-made climate change.
The United States and Mexico have submitted their plans to the United Nations, but Canada has not. Harper’s foreign ministry has said the central government in Ottawa would wait until it sees what its provinces do before assembling its global climate plan for the United Nations.
But critics of the Harper government voiced mistrust over the comments, calling it a stalling tactic. Mexico and the U.S. agreed to bilateral discussions on clean energy and policy-planning upon issuing their plans to the U.N., but Canada was not mentioned in those announcements.
The private sector may be reaching out to the U.S. on its own to make sure the Obama administration knows Canada’s utility industry is committed to carbon reductions that can assist the U.S. in meeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed power-plant climate rules for each state.
Last week a delegation of Canadian utility officials met with senior administration officials to assure the EPA, the Energy Department and members of the House and Senate energy committees that the Great White North is ready to assist in meeting the U.S.’s climate goals.
The utility executives said the EPA should clarify the use of energy exports from Canada in the Clean Power Plan that the agency will finalize this summer. The Clean Power Plan, which sets emission reduction targets for each state, is at the center of President Obama’s climate agenda.
The Canadian Electricity Association, which led the delegation, “reinforced its principal recommendation” to Obama administration officials that the EPA give the states the flexibility to allow them to use imports of Canadian electricity as part of their strategy for making their cuts, a delegation spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, pressure mounted for the Harper administration at home. The same day that Ontario announced its cap-and-trade decision, the country saw scores of protesters taking to the streets, urging the Harper government to take action with broad emissions cuts.
Some protesters carried signs demonstrating against the need for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would ship carbon-intensive crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
The Ontario announcement helps demonstrate that many of Canada’s provinces are ready to enact firm carbon reduction strategies. It includes the establishment of a cap-and-trade program for the province, establishing a firm limit on the amount of carbon emissions the province can emit over time.
The trading system that goes with the emissions limit, or cap, allows for tradable emission credits and free allowances that emitters use to comply as they develop more advanced technologies. The allowances diminish over time as the province nears its reduction goal.
“Climate change needs to be fought around the globe, and it needs to be fought here in Canada and Ontario. The action we are taking today will help secure a healthier environment, a more competitive economy and a better future for our children and grandchildren,” said Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
A similar cap-and-trade system was contemplated by Congress in 2009, but broad disagreements over its implementation caused it to fail. Since then, the Obama administration has sought to implement stringent regulations to control power plant emissions in lieu of a national policy on greenhouse gas reductions.
