What is Justin Trudeau’s legacy on climate? - Transformative climate policies. This is the fed govt that finally moved from announcing targets and plans to actually adopting policies - Achilles heel on oil and gas. - The legacy is fragile but is that Trudeau or Canada? Bear with me for a long 🧵. - ThreadSky

profkharrison.bsky.social • 52 days ago

What is Justin Trudeau’s legacy on climate?
- Transformative climate policies. This is the fed govt that finally moved from announcing targets and plans to actually adopting policies
- Achilles heel on oil and gas.
- The legacy is fragile but is that Trudeau or Canada?
Bear with me for a long 🧵.

Comments

audieklotz.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

This is a govt that actually started to do some of the tough things. And they are tough, politically. For all the talk of being better off if we act (true!), climate action has costs. Time and again my interview subjects stressed the PM's personal commitment on climate, backing for his Ministers.

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

For the first time, climate was a central priority for a Canadian government. That was signalled in 2015 election, reinforced in 2019 (kids marching in the streets!), but sustained through two minorities. The PM appointed a former Greenpeace climate activist as Environment and Climate Minister!

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

Federal leadership on climate. For decades fed govts deferred to a norm (not constitutional requirement) of fed-prov consensus. AB vetoed national cap/trade plan; ON blocked tailpipe stds; QC resisted it all. In 2018 Trudeau moved ahead on carbon pricing over provincial objections. Sup Ct OK'd it.

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

Meaningful climate policies for the first time. Emissions are only starting to decline, but that’s because regulatory policies take so damned long to finalize(alas) and bc the first impact was to ending steadily increasing emissions. Let's consider carbon pricing, regulations, spending.

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

Carbon tax - oof! The consumer tax is unpopular bc our electoral system invited opposition to go low (compare to Ireland); inflation opened the door to “axe the tax” messaging; Canadians drive trucks. But the separate industrial C pricing system, if not gutted, is the single most effective policy.

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

Regulation: coal phaseout, clean fuel std, 2 rounds of methane regs, ZEV stds, clean electricity reg. These policies are the belt to carbon price suspenders, critical to driving down Canada’s emissions. Can govt finalize oil/gas cap in time? Will regs be weakened or withdrawn? It’s all on the table.

axedame.bsky.social•52 days ago

Except, as economists have shown us, carbon pricing has had next to NO effect on inflation.

It was our incompetent MEDIA that opened the door for PP's axe-the-tax tagline/disinformation by being little more than stenographers for him for the last 2 years.

stephentweedale.bsky.social•52 days ago

Could you elaborate or suggest any reading on the contrast with Ireland?

stevenkeenan.bsky.social•52 days ago

As the likelihood the tax would be abolished increased, people knew that the ROI on many large purchases are severely limited once the carbon tax went away.
This opposition clearly limited the effectiveness of the tax and impacted our ability to reduce emissions

revealynn.bsky.social•52 days ago

Not for the first time. Have you forgotten Climate PM Brian Mulroney already?

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

The Mulroney government hosted a climate meeting, set targets and announced a Green Plan (most of the money of which was never spent), but didn't adopt any policies to reduce Canada's GHG emissions that I can think of. On other issues -- e.g., CEPA, acid rain -- a stronger legacy.

bakergeorget.bsky.social•52 days ago

Do you think it is the fragility of democracy that any elected party really only has one term to make substantive changes before they lose the currency to make change?

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

They had 3 terms. But yeah, climate action is big electoral challenge in carbon-intensive democracies. And on top of that, it's not usually the priority at election time.

sparrownm.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

stepheo.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

canovelist.bsky.social•51 days ago

Can we talk about his purchase of the Trans-Mountain pipeline. A project that was abandoned by private entereprise as being economically disastrous? We are going to be paying for that folly for a long time.

canuckfan16.bsky.social•52 days ago

📌

naomir71.bsky.social•52 days ago

Trudeau made a critical messaging error in his climate policy - most "low information" voters (and that is not a slur - simply recognition that most busy people don't get into the weeds of politics) don't even know that there is a carbon tax rebate.

profkharrison.bsky.social•52 days ago

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01268-3

naomir71.bsky.social•52 days ago

He should have taken one cue from Trump and mailed out the cheques with his name and the purpose for the rebate.

reconafrica.bsky.social•52 days ago

Ineffective, conservative market solutions A catastrophe. No amount of spn changes this.

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