Quebec plans on cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, Premier Jean Charest announced at a press conference yesterday.
The province’s new emissions target will be added on to its current Kyoto-based target of a 6 per cent reduction from 1990 standards between 2008 and 2012. According to Le Devoir, the province is expected to reach its initial goal in 2012.
Means
To reach the new 20 per cent goal, Charest said the province plans to invest in public transit, natural resources and electric modes of transportation, as well as restrict urban sprawl and oil heating systems. Quebec also plans to establish carbon caps and join an international trade system by 2012.
Public transit will likely be the main area of concern as transportation currently accounts for 40 per cent of the province’s greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the Charest government will be adopting an emission threshold for light vehicles in the near future, according to Radio-Canada.
Controlling urban sprawl will be another heavy issue for the government to tackle, considering recent development projects, such as the Turcot interchange.
According to a press release from environmental organization Équiterre, “the first thing to do is to take the Turcot project back to the drawing table” as it will be “adding tens of thousands of cars to the interchange and will increase congestion on the island.”
At the press conference yesterday Charest addressed this concern, telling La Presse, “When it comes to the environment we have to remember there is no such thing as a utopia. Everything people do affects the environment. We have to pick the actions that will have the less impact.”
Financial repercussions
Last month, Charest said in an interview with the Canadian Press and published in La Presse that the province’s environmental goals will not be “used as a pretext to raise taxes.” However consumers may expect an increase in gas prices; a public consultation document from the province’s Ministry of Sustainable Development presented the price of gas increasing from 3.7 cents to 12.7 cents a litre as a potential scenario.
Joining the trade system
Another part of Quebec’s plan to meet the 20 per cent objective, joining an international trading system by 2012, is getting a lot of negative reviews from environmental groups. The trading system would allow the province to buy greenhouse gas credits from countries which have met their objectives.
Credit trading, where one credit equals one ton of emissions, was introduced as part of the Kyoto protocol. The price of credits is subject to the laws of supply and demand.
Quebec industries targeted
Last June the provincial government passed Law 42, which will create a threshold for big industry’s greenhouse gas emissions as of 2012. Under the new law, targeted companies will have to declare how much emissions they release and will have to buy credits on the trading system to reach their objectives.
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