McGuinty says no to carbon tax
GUELPH, ONTARIO - Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty says the province won't join British Columbia in creating a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
He says while a carbon tax is well suited for B.C.'s economy and the direction it wants to go in, Ontario is pursuing a different strategy.
McGuinty says that includes a renewed commitment to shutting down the province's biggest polluters – its coal-fired generating plants – which his Liberals failed to accomplish during their first term in government.
The premier says his government is also investing heavily in public transit, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area.
McGuinty wouldn't say whether he would consider a carbon tax in the future, but says it definitely won't be in the next provincial budget, expected in the spring.
Alberta, by far the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Canada, also opposes a carbon tax on consumers, which became a North American first when British Columbia introduced it in its budget.
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Alberta shift from coal to cleaner energy
EDMONTON - The turn of the calendar to 2018 saw TransAlta retire one of its coal power generating units at its Sundance plant west of Edmonton and mothball another as it begins the transition to cleaner sources of energy.
The company will say goodbye to three more units over the next year and a half to prepare them for conversion to natural gas.
This is part of a fundamental shift in Alberta, which will see coal power completely eliminated by 2030, replaced by a mix of natural gas and renewable sources.
“We’re going to see that transition continue right up…
