Another year, another disagreement on a pan-provincial approach to climate change. You can almost set your watch to what Ontario and Alberta will say at the annual premier-fest (a.k.a. Council of the Federation meeting). Ontario will talk about closing its…
Category: Emission trading
Jaws of Anchoring Trap set to snap shut on Ontario’s electric future
In their brilliant book Smart Choices, Hammond Keeney & Raiffa warn against falling into the “anchoring trap”—a psychological quirk which makes human decision-makers glom onto the first number they see and base subsequent decisions on that number. If the number…
Canadian GHG credits and Ontario nuclear power: the true value of carbon, take II
When unit 2 at the Bruce nuclear plant comes back online this fall after a 14-year layup, it will, every year, inject around 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours of cheap, carbon-free power into Ontario’s grid. How much carbon will it offset? Between 3.5 and 6.5…
U.S. climate bill set for vote: watch and learn, Canada
Professional climate policy wonks are watching the spectacle south of the Canada-U.S. border, where a House bill on climate change will receive its first major political test Friday. Political wrangling over what industries get covered (or hit, depending on your…
Canadian carbon offsets: opportunities and problems
Four years ago, I participated in an Environment Canada consultation on creating an offset system for greenhouse gas reductions. My aim was to see that nuclear power projects qualified under the proposed system. If emitters were able to buy down…