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David Suzuki is trying to speak Stephen Harper's language, releasing a report Monday that argues a strong climate change plan could produce deep income tax cuts.

The well-known environmentalist and Simon Fraser University economist Mark Jaccard released a report Monday morning on Parliament Hill that outlines various options for Ottawa to implement a carbon tax or other ways of forcing polluters to pay for their environmental impacts.

The report argues that making polluters pay a fee for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere could raise between $50-billion and $100-billion in revenue annually by 2020.

The report argues that most of that revenue could be used to greatly reduce personal income taxes.

Rather than devoting all the revenue to tax cuts, the report suggests some of the money be put toward renewable energy projects such as wind and solar power.

“Let's put the ‘eco' back into economics and make sure that economics considers the ecological implications of the way we live,” said Mr. Suzuki.

The report comes on the heels of this month's budget in British Columbia, which introduced a carbon tax on the economy as a way of reducing greenhouse gases.

“We now know that taxation is a very powerful incentive to discourage things that we don't want and relief of taxes can encourage the things we want,” said Mr. Suzuki. “British Columbia, I'm proud to say, is leading the way in North America with a really ground-breaking, revenue-neutral carbon tax and I think this is something we've got to see sweep across the country.”

The report analyzes various options for a federal carbon tax or a carbon price through trading. A carbon tax imposes a fee on industry for every tonne of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. In carbon trading, the government sets a firm limit as to how many tones of greenhouse emissions can be emitted without cost. To emit above that level, a company would have to purchase credits from another company that is below its own emissions cap.

Under a carbon pricing system, the penalties on industry are normally passed on to the consumer, leading to higher prices for a wide range of items such as gasoline, home heating and transportation.

Federal environment minister John Baird has rejected carbon taxes, but said he agrees with the concept of “polluter pays.” Carbon trading will be an option for companies that comply with the government's promised regulations for heavy industry.

The Suzuki Foundation argued yesterday that the government's plan falls short because industrial targets are based on the “intensity” of emissions, rather than firm caps.

In an intensity-based system, a company must reduce emissions associated with each unit of production, such as a barrel of oil. Critics point out that formula could allow overall emissions to rise as more units are sold year over year.

The government defends the intensity-based approach, arguing that it ensures companies use technology to reduce the environmental impact and comply with federal rules rather than simply moving production out of the country.