Government defends carbon tax

The provincial government says an Olds resident is wrong; in the government's opinion "climate change is real."

Brent Wittmeier, press secretary to Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, says action like the carbon tax had to be taken "to protect future generations."

"Climate change is likely to result in extreme weather events, which carry enormous costs," Wittmeier wrote in an email to the Albertan.

"The challenge of a changing economy due to climate change has been acknowledged by governments around the world, including Ottawa, which will be imposing a carbon price on provinces who don't take action by 2018," he added.

Wittmeier said even businesses in the energy industry have heralded the provincial government's moves on the climate file.

"The need to take action on climate change (and Alberta's plan) has been publicly heralded by Shell Canada, CNRL, Cenovus, BP Canada, Devon, Statoil, Suncor and Total, as well as CEOs of 60 companies across a variety of sectors, as well as many other organizations in Alberta," he wrote.

Wittmeier said the province's climate leadership plan, which includes the carbon tax, has been "instrumental in opening new markets to Alberta's energy sector."

"The Prime Minister explicitly said this in November ((http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/11/30/prime-minister-justin-trudeaus-pipeline-announcement) while approving the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which will open up new markets for Alberta's energy sector and boost the price of oil by at least $3 per barrel," Wittmeier wrote.

"For too long, past governments denied or shirked the science of climate change, and then got nowhere in building new pipelines or diversifying our economy. We're changing that. The two pipelines approved in November will lead to 22,000 construction jobs and more jobs in the energy sector," he added.

Wittmeier said revenue from the carbon tax "will help diversify our economy, provide significant investment opportunities worth at least $10.5 billion and create at least 7,200 new jobs as projects are built."

He also noted that carbon tax rebates have been sent to low- and middle-income Albertans, "protecting them from the impact and rewarding them for actions they choose to take."

Olds resident Jim Schulz criticized the government's plan to get rid of coal-fired energy production plants. He said Alberta's coal-fired plants are among the most efficient in the world and they help sequester bad chemicals like sulphur via the fly ash they produce, which is utilized in concrete.

Wittmeier disagrees with that.

"Alberta's coal plants account for half of the 10 largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Canada," he wrote.

"They are also among the largest emitters of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide which are irritant gases and have the following effects on human health: breathing difficulty, pulmonary oedema, heart failure, airway inflammation, eye irritation.

"Burning coal causes premature deaths and costs Alberta money," he added.

"Using Environment Canada data, a group of organizations (the Canadian Lung Association, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Asthma Society of Canada, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Alberta Public Health) report that accelerating the national phase-out of coal-fired electricity to 2030 will prevent 1,008 premature deaths, 871 ER visits and have health outcome values at almost $3 billion in benefits between 2015 and 2035.

"Phasing out coal is also one of the cheapest ways to lower greenhouse gas emissions (compared to carbon capture and storage, which is about 10 times more expensive per tonne of emissions abated)," Wittmeier added.