Advisory Panel To Canadian Government Recommends National Cap And Trade Program

In a report released yesterday entitled "Parallel Paths: Canada-U.S. Climate Policy Choices" , the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy (NTREE) said that, given the uncertainty over U.S. climate change policies, the Canadian government should create its own national climate change regulations and then adapt to fit U.S. policies at a later date. In this report, the NRTEE reached four conclusions with respect to the relationship between Canadian and US climate policies:

1) Canada's unique emissions profile and economic structure mean that matching Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets with those of the U.S. would lead to higher carbon prices in Canada. If the Canadian government followed through with its proposal of matching Canada's GHG targets to those of the U.S., fewer emission reductions would in fact occur due to the projected higher growth of emissions in Canada than in the U.S. The result would be that Canada would not meet its stated