NS Press Release (May 14, 2018);
Nova Scotia joined the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) Inc. today, May 14, as the province develops a new cap and trade carbon pricing program, required by the federal government by the end of the year.
“We are joining the WCI Inc. to use its IT system to manage and track the new cap and trade program,” said Environment Minister Iain Rankin. “This will help us launch our program on time and tap into expertise across North America so that we can continue to be a national leader in fighting climate change.”
The province can join WCI Inc. and use its IT system without trading greenhouse gas emission allowances with other jurisdictions. There is no plan to trade outside the province at this time.
“Nova Scotia’s planned cap and trade program is the latest example of provinces and states leading the fight against climate change,” said Matthew Rodriquez, California’s secretary for Environmental Protection and chairman of the initiative. “WCI Inc. is pleased to support this effort while separately administering the linked programs among California, Quebec and Ontario.”
There is no cost to join WCI Inc. but there is a cost to use the management and tracking system. Nova Scotia will pay about $314,000 U.S. for 2018-19. The annual cost for subsequent years will be about $228,000 U.S. or more if the province requests modifications to the system.
Nova Scotia is a national leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The province has already met the national reduction target of 30 per cent below 2005 levels and is on track to have 40 per cent of electricity generation from renewables by 2020.
Some links
Nova Scotia’s Proposed Cap and Trade Program
ON NS Government website (climatechange.novascotia.ca)
Ontario Cap and Trade
Article on website of smvholdings.com/. Up-to-date summary “Ontario is a founding member of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and officially joined when its C&T program came into effect on January 1, 2017. The program is worth billions of dollars to the economy. On January 1, 2018 Ontario was internationally and nationally linked with the California and Quebec C&T programs to form the second largest low carbon economy in the world. ”
Western Climate Initiative, Inc.
Website. Not socially informative. For that, read the Western Climate Initiative – Wikipedia