Green tech will help Canada stay competitive: Sask. premier

[Blue_Tires]

REGINA — Canada and the United States need to invest in green technology in order to remain competitive, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall told a U.S. congressional delegation visiting Regina on Sunday.


Wall said his government is prepared to work with what he calls a cap-and-cut system — an initiative which sets a target capping carbon emissions and sets future agreed upon cuts to those targets.


However, he opposes both the carbon tax and the cap-and-trade system as a means of fighting climate change,

Under the cap-and-trade system, larger polluters who exceed industrial emission targets can buy back credits from greener companies. Under this system Saskatchewan, as a large scale producer and user of coal and fossil fuels responsible for nine per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, would be heavily penalized.


“What happens after the cap is set is where we have some concerns,” Wall said.


Backed by his ally Montana Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Wall is proposing the Canadian and U.S. governments impose an environmental levy on companies exceeding their emission caps and the money be reinvested into green technology.

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Green+tech+will+help+Canada+stay+competitive+Sask+premier/2014323/story.html