Justice in Ontario*:
Canada’s provinces are taking command of the nation’s battle against climate change, seizing the initiative from a reluctant federal government as the clock ticks down to a crucial international climate agreement later this year.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on Monday signed a historic deal to join Quebec’s cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions, while British Columbia Premier Christy Clark was invited to promote her province’s carbon tax at the World Bank – an honour not usually accorded to a provincial leader. ...
Many of the details in Ontario’s cap-and-trade system still have to be worked out over the next six months, but it is likely to look similar to the joint system run by Quebec and California. In that model, the government sets a cap on emissions and hands out some permits to industry for free while auctioning others off. The proceeds are then plowed back into other green programs, such as public transit.
Once Ontario’s system is operating, 62 per cent of Canada’s population and more than half its economy will be under the same carbon market. Including B.C., which uses a carbon tax instead, some three quarters of Canadians will be covered by provincial-level carbon pricing. ...
via www.theglobeandmail.com
I didn't know Quebec was in AB32 but here is a news release from October 2013 that says they've been working on it for five years:
California and Quebec took another step toward linking their cap and trade programs when representatives of the two jurisdictions signed an agreement outlining steps and procedures to fully harmonize and integrate the two programs.
Signing the agreement is the latest step in a process to link the two jurisdictions that began more than five years ago. ... In April 2013 the Air Resources Board adopted a regulation setting January 1, 2014 as the start of the linkage, which will enable carbon allowances and offset credits to be exchanged between participants in the two jurisdictions’ programs. ...
"The sale of emission allowances will generate at least $2.5 billion in revenue by 2020 in Quebec. These funds will be fully reinvested in initiatives to fight climate change, including facilitating the conversion to renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency, improving industrial processes, and preparing Quebec society to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The electrification of transportation is another major project on which our government will labor over the coming months," said Minister Blanchet.
The linked programs will provide a working model for other states and provinces that are seeking cost-effective approaches to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The recent announcement by the U.S. EPA regarding limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, for example, could lead to state-by-state caps and a system that would allow them to trade credits with other similar programs. The California-Quebec arrangement could be the template for that effort.
It shouldn't be much of a problem to work northeast from California and southwest from Ontario to include all of both countries, should it?
*So, the Steve Earle lyrics are totally unrelated to this post but ... why not?