Ottawa

Exchanging tweets with Rona Ambrose

Earlier this afternoon, Rona Ambrose responded to this blog post with the following tweet.

Industry will always favour a carbon tax over emissions regulations: it dilutes costs & defers real action on environment.

I responded with a question.

So do you agree then that a regulatory approach will actually be costlier than a carbon tax or cap and trade?

Ms. Ambrose tweeted back.

Regs target industry change ie: new technology. Carbon tax merely raises revenue for govt: no certainty of environmental change

I asked another question.

Wouldn’t cap and trade provide for certainty and mitigate the impact of increased costs on consumers?

To that I added a link to this post by Stephen Gordon.

Ms. Ambrose hasn’t responded, but I’ll update this post if she does. I’ve also asked her office if she’d like to do an interview about environmental policy and carbon pricing. There is, indisputably, a debate to be had about greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and how governments should respond to those challenges. I’ve filed a standing request with the offices of Peter Kent and Joe Oliver if either (or both) want to sit down for an interview and I’m happy to chat with anyone who has an opinion on the matter.

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