Within four weeks of being elected, Doug Ford tried to scrap the cap-and-trade program and stopped all the green initiatives funded by that income. He showed, immediately, that he wants to protect the biggest polluters and throw climate targets under the bus.
Ford tried to plow over the democratic process by introducing legislation to cut cap-and-trade without public consultation -- and he almost got away with it. Now, his government is being taken to court, they’re backtracking and have opened comments from folks in Ontario like you and me.
We have to act fast. Comments are only open for 23 more days and you can bet that Ford is hoping that no one will comment so he can force through his decimation of climate initiatives.
We've put together a sample email but it's more impactful if you put it in your own words. Here are some key points you can include:
- you oppose Bill 4 (the legislation that would scrap cap and trade)
- cap and trade is effective at reducing emissions
- climate change is happening and our province is being deeply affected by it already
- income from the cap and trade program is vital for funding green initiatives like renewable energy projects and retrofits
- without a well laid out climate plan in place, eliminating the cap and trade program endangers meeting Canada's climate change target
- the economic costs of paying off corporations who are impacted by the cancellation are likely to be huge and this is not an appropriate use of tax dollars
Photo Credit: By HiMY SYeD from Toronto, Canada [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
More information
Bill 4, Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 2018
Environmental Registry. 11 September 2018.
Environmental Registry. 11 September 2018.
Greenpeace suing Ontario government over cancellation of cap-and-trade program
CBC. 11 September 2018.
CBC. 11 September 2018.