The Conservatives will attack yesterday's budget as a big-spending plan on things we don't need. Heather Scoffield writes that it's not that -- at all:
The finance department figures we need investment of between $125 billion and $140 billion every year — yes, every year — to get to a net-zero economy by 2050. Right now, we see between $15 billion and $25 billion.
“No one government can close that gap,” the budget document states.
But the budget does pick its targets and places bets on them:
The biggest piece of the experiment is a hefty tax credit for carbon capture and storage — $2.6-billion in writeoffs for the oil and gas sector to encourage it to develop more capacity to store underground the carbon dioxide emissions that come from extracting energy.
Canada is making its name around the world for leaning hard on this technology, and the budget bets big that the tax credit will allow the country’s fossil fuel sector to produce and sell cleaner oil and gas as we all transition to a low-carbon economy.
The second bet is on $4 billion for critical minerals. Over eight years, the government will provide a tax credit to find and mine the metals the world desperately wants for the production of greener and more digitally advanced phones, computers and cars. Canada has lots of these minerals, and the budget envisions the country’s capital markets, manufacturers and workers alike piling into this zone to compete against the likes of China.
The move plays to our history as a mining power, but will require the full participation of Indigenous communities and a yet-to-be-established supply chain to connect the raw materials with the companies that want them.
And the third bet is on bureaucracy — two new agencies that will operate at arm’s length from government, but use government money to partner with the private sector. The Canada Growth Fund will be a $15-billion financial institution that takes on risk for investors who are hesitant to put their money in Canada in case we change direction on carbon pricing or project approvals. And the Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency will use its $1 billion to finance fresh new ideas from Canadian businesses, adding to the plethora of government programs that support research and development.
But the model here is the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which has been far from the success it was touted to be in terms of leveraging private sector investment. The agencies are still very much in the design stage, so we can hope — but certainly can’t assume — they’ll be more focused on moving quickly, delivering returns and persuading the private sector to jump in with both feet.
Time will tell just what kind of a poker player Ms. Freeland is.
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6 comments:
I wonder how much money will be given to Equinor, Norway and Huskey Energy, now owed by Cenovus of Canada for the development of Bay du Nord off the coast of Newfoundland? How much money will the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador reap from this deal? It supposedly will create thousands of jobs. Who will benefit from those jobs? If this is another 7% deal for Newfoundland who is really benefiting. One wonders what the 137 Conditions are and how they will be implemented concerning this project? Will Newfoundland & Labrador finally find its way back to prosperity and learn to use this money to develop alternative energy? Nope! Not if the International Bank is involved. Anyong
There are a lot of things in the budget which raise questions, Anyong.
Carbon capture. Now there's a dud that any number of people have debunked. What'll it take? Apparently at least a million plants worldwide gobbling more energy and putting as much dent in the issue as I do after ten minutes shovelling snow in my 150 foot driveway. Just another slush fund for the oil and gas sector. kenney and those of his bewildered out-of-date ilk thinks there's a magic pill for everything.
He and Moe and Doug bet the farm on vaccines for Covid. Too bad the virus mutated, as they are wont to do. So now I have my triple-vaxxed late-twenties niece flat on her back with Omicron. With luck, probably won't get seriously ill, but there's millions more where she came from.
I'm not dunning vaccines per se, triple vaxxed as i am, but let's face it, these vaccines were developed to combat original Covid-19, not Omicron. And from my The Grauniad gleanings, experts are now scratching their heads as to why the body doesn't seem to develop substantial antibodies to fight it. So if you had Omicron BA1, BA2 may be on your agenda anyway.
Good luck to one and all. The pols and Public Health aren't interested any more.
They've given up, Bill. The truckers still haunt their dreams.
I'm with Bill on carbon capture. CO2 scrubbers on smoke stacks have some success but much of the demonstration technology is unable to reach very high where much of the atmospheric CO2 is found.
From what I've read, Mound, it sounds like carbon capture won't get the job done.
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