Quote:
Originally Posted by Rathji
What would you like to be done about it, immediately? The problem is obviously huge, so any one thing won't be a magic bullet solution.
Assume everyone would do exactly what you wanted and that the cost would be absorbed by enough of the nations on the planet that it wouldn't break the bank.
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There is no magic bullet. That's one of the reasons why this is a wicked problem.
The biggest issue is to start pricing carbon across Canada and the rest of the world. Alberta should strengthen its SGER framework to something like 40/40 or 50/50 and then carbon tax all fossil fuels like BC. This should be done in all provinces in Canada immediately. The carbon price then needs to show real value to people. The revenue from the tax ought to go to income tax deductions and to capital spending on low carbon solutions like public transit, home retrofits, and crucially financial mechanisms for clean-tech companies to lower their costs and improve their innovation and productivity.
Next, the government would start regulating some low hanging fruit for emissions. Heavy duty diesel trucks are a start. But all new buildings will have to be at least R-80 moving forward.
Industry would get accelerated capital cost allowances for a suite of industry specific technology adoptions that makes them much more energy efficient or electricity dependent.
Finally, we would provide a production incentive for renewable and clean electricity generation.
That would be a start. It will be painful, there is no doubt. It will require unprecedented levels of leadership. It will have significant amounts of people complaining. It will also be the first step to utterly transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.