Unclutch those pearls, folks: Scrapping cap-and-trade will bring stability, not chaos – by Peter shawn Taylor (Financial Post – July 5, 2018)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Opinion: Australian Liberals kept their ‘blood oath’ to axe carbon taxes — and they are still on target for emissions reductions

Canada’s carbon pricing lobby has plenty of frantic arguments for why Ontario Premier Doug Ford should abandon his plan to repeal the province’s cap-and-trade carbon dioxide emissions trading scheme. But unclutch those pearls, folks.

This carbon tax can be scrapped without causing political chaos, financial ruin or environmental devastation. Given international experience, legislating away a price on carbon dioxide shouldn’t even be considered a ground-breaking event. (Unless you consider Canadian politicians keeping their word to be a ground-breaking event.)

Premier Ford says his first piece of business when the Ontario legislature reconvenes will be to get rid of cap-and-trade. This won’t be a problem. Cap-and-trade was created by legislation and it can be eliminated in precisely the same way.

The sooner this happens, the sooner the transition to a more stable and affordable Ontario economy can occur. And given that California and Quebec have already barred Ontario firms from further participation in their joint permit market, Ontario’s carbon emissions trading system is essentially dead already.

Many of Ford’s critics claim he is naively giving up a lucrative new revenue stream at a time of serious budget deficits.

For the rest of this column: https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/unclutch-those-pearls-folks-scrapping-cap-and-trade-will-bring-stability-not-chaos