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HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's climate action plan may be under wraps until the fall, but Premier Rodney MacDonald didn't shy away Thursday from saying what won't be included in the province's battle against greenhouse gases.
Mr. MacDonald, who has long voiced doubts about a carbon tax proposal for Nova Scotia, confirmed the measure would not be part of any provincial plan.
“I'm not a fan of carbon tax. We will not be introducing a carbon tax as suggested (by Liberals) at the national level,” said Mr. MacDonald.
“In Nova Scotia there is a high reliance on fossil fuel and we would be hurting Nova Scotians — individuals who are trying to heat their homes this winter — if we move in that regard.”
Mr. MacDonald also said he's not convinced a cap-and-trade system is the way to go either.
Such a system offers incentives for industries that reduce emissions by allowing them to sell excess capacity to companies that emit above their cap.
This can be done across jurisdictions, but the premier said that he preferred a Nova Scotia-based solution to the province's environmental challenges.
“A cap, yes we're in favour of...but getting the benefit of what's happening in another part of the country or the world and not doing anything in Nova Scotia is not doing what's in the best interest of the environment,” he said.
Environment Minister Mark Parent won't reveal details, but said any measures that are adopted will allow the province to meet its stated target of a greenhouse gas reduction of 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
“It's not going to be a quick fix in Nova Scotia,” said Mr. Parent. “We will reach our targets and then we will advance even stronger targets following the 2020 level.”
But whatever is done, Mr. Parent has admitted in the past that meeting the target will be a “huge challenge.”
The point was illustrated in a progress report released this spring on the wide-ranging Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act. The government stated that emissions have increased to 16 per cent above 1990 levels as of 2005.
Meanwhile, critics maintain the province has wasted valuable time in getting a plan on the rails and have called for clear restrictions on industries that produce carbon emissions.
They also suggest that energy efficiency measures are needed for fuel oil along with heavy investment in sustainable transportation, such as public transit.
