VOL. 68 NO. 52
65 YEARS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015
Most Albertans unwilling to foot climate change bill
Joe Machney Towards the end of 2015, the Alberta government rolled out a Climate Leadership Plan which elaborated on a new strategy for climate change, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The strategy calls for the implementation of a carbon tax that would reach $30/tonne by 2018, increasing government revenue by $3 billion annually once fully implemented and potentially increasing thereafter. In Premier Notley’s own words, “Like the plans being implemented in California and Quebec, this carbon price will apply a performance-based standard to emitters... we will put every penny raised through the carbon price to work here in Alberta — building our economy, creating jobs, and dou-
bling down on efforts to reduce pollution and promote greater efficiency... including clean research and technology...” For Albertans, this has been one of the dominating issues in public discussion. From coffee shops to internet forums, many locals are against this strategy, saying it will do more harm than good – environment aside. “[There’s] very strong opposition, there’s no question people are opposed,” said David Valentin, spokesman for Mainstreet Technologies polling firm. Their automated telephone survey revealed that 68% of those polled were against the climate plan, 22%, were in favour. Support for the climate plan is strongest in Edmonton, where 45% approve and 41% oppose it. CONTINUED TO PAGE 13
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