McGuinty Warns Ottawa: Ontario’s Climate Leadership Now Has “Economic Value” – Don’t “Discriminate” By Letting Carbon Polluters “Off The Hook”

Pretty inflammatory rhetoric out of Premier McGuinty. And just a day after Quebec put more than just rhetorical screws to Ottawa. Should be an interesting meeting when the Environment Ministers get together tomorrow!

This is more than just Premiers piling on the Feds — it’s an important correction in the national debate. There is a lot of attention given to the feared howls of outrage from the oilsands about carbon restrictions. But we need to look at both sides of that argument: letting any sector increase its emissions means someone/everyone else has to make extra cuts to make up for it. Those howls of outrage cut both ways.

The provinces that have taken climate leadership have the extra worry that ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ – making sure they get due credit for all the work they’ve already done. McGuinty:

“When we have [a national] plan in place it had better not discriminate against Ontarians, who have in fact … worked long and hard to reduce our emissions. We have made considerable progress in our plan. We don’t want that progress to benefit another part of the country, to relieve them of their obligation to make progress as well.”

The Toronto Star interprets this as Ontario drawing a line in the Alberta oil sands:

The premier is worried that the federal government will use his province’s progress on slashing greenhouse gas emissions – by phasing out coal-fired generation and promoting more costly renewable electricity – to give Alberta’s big-polluting oil sands a break in a national cap-and-trade program.

“We didn’t develop this economic value so it could be confiscated from us and given to another part of the country,”

McGuinty didn’t actually single out any other regions for criticism but the Canadian Press’ version of events is very similar:

… provincial discrimination could happen if Ontario’s “hard work” in reducing emissions is used to let other provinces “off the hook,” he said.

“We didn’t move forward as Ontarians, we didn’t add additional costs to our electricity, to relieve other Canadians of their obligation to make progress in their own way,” McGuinty added.

There’s “real money” to be found in using less carbon and Ontario should be able to use those funds as it sees fit, he said.

Ontario’s carbon credits should also be “ours to trade, not the federal government’s to trade away,” McGuinty said.

Canadian Press:  Ontario must keep gains generated from national cap-and-trade

The Star: Don’t steal Ontario’s green gains, McGuinty warns Ottawa