Quebec & Ontario cap and trade

June 3
A monster dressed up as a market
Terence Corcoran, National Post
Ahh, finally. It’s all coming together, the form and substance of the great cap-and-trade carbon enterprise taking shape before our eyes. In Washington, debate began yesterday over the Lieberman-Warner carbon control program, dubbed the “cap and spend” program by The Wall Street Journal on account of the $3.3-trillion pork barrel taking shape around the bill. [Ah, Terence, what would we do without you and your climate-change-denier colleagues at the NP, firm allies of the WSJ – do you read anything else?]
June 2
Ontario, Quebec unveil carbon cap-and-trade plan
The governments of Quebec and Ontario have formally agreed to work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions, set up a high-speed train service and further integrate their economies.
In the first significant move in the new initiative, Premier Jean Charest and his Ontario counterpart, Dalton McGuinty, on Monday unveiled a cap-and-trade protocol for atmospheric carbon in Quebec City after holding their first joint provincial cabinet meeting.
McGuinty said he would like to see a carbon trading program in place by 2010.
Baird blasts provinces’ Kyoto knock-off
QUEBEC – Federal Environment Minister John Baird blasted Quebec and Ontario yesterday for deciding to go ahead without Ottawa with their own scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A day before the provinces even sign the deal, Mr. Baird went on the attack, accusing them and other provincial premiers of “more talk and less action” when it comes to emissions while Ottawa has its own plan that will force big companies to cut pollution.
Mr. Baird was reacting to media leaks of a plan by Quebec and Ontario to sign a deal today bucking Ottawa’s approach to controlling emissions and aligning themselves with the targets of the old international Kyoto accord, which the Conservative government has not enacted.
At a joint meeting of their Cabinets, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty intend to sign a deal accelerating the establishment of an interprovincial cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions.
Such a system, which is increasingly popular in Europe, allows companies that produce less carbon than their caps permit to sell their unused quotas to companies that exceed their caps.