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Federal government rejects Nova Scotia’s plan to avoid carbon tax

Canada’s environment minister is sending the Nova Scotia government back to the drawing board regarding the province’s proposal to avoid the federal carbon tax.

In a letter to Premier Tim Houston dated Aug. 29, Steven Guilbeault notes the Nova Scotia plan doesn’t put a price on carbon pollution, adding that his department remains open to “alternate proposals.”

However, Guilbeault also says that the federal government is committed to ensuring the same carbon pricing incentives to reduce emissions are in place in Nova Scotia and across Canada.

The new federal carbon tax will increase the price of carbon by $15 per tonne, and then rise again every year until it reaches $170 per tonne in 2030.

Houston has said that with the rising cost of living the time isn’t right for a carbon tax that could add 14.4 cents per litre to the cost of gasoline in Nova Scotia starting April 1, 2023.

Earlier this month, the province released a plan that lists its existing environmental goals. They include phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030, pledging to have 80 per cent of the province’s energy supplied by renewable sources by 2030, and having zero-emission vehicles comprise 30 per cent of vehicle sales also by that year.