And the Canadian and American governments are pretending that saving $200 a year in fuel will make up for it.
Automakers facing carbon tax in 2011 under tough new standards
By Mike De Souza, Canwest News ServiceApril 1, 2010 1:02 PM
Traffic on Trans-Canada Highway at Admirals Road/ Mackenzie Avenue intersection for Budget reaction in Victoria, B.C. on Feb. 19, 2008.
Traffic on Trans-Canada Highway at Admirals Road/ Mackenzie Avenue intersection for Budget reaction in Victoria, B.C. on Feb. 19, 2008. Photograph by: Darren Stone, Victoria Times Colonist
OTTAWA =97 Automobile manufacturers could face a carbon tax on new vehicles in the 2011 model year if they fail to meet new standards to reduce tailpipe emissions that were announced on Thursday by Environment Minister Jim Prentice.
The declaration confirms that the government still plans to move ahead with a draft plan unveiled in December to impose tougher tailpipe standards on cars, matching new proposed regulations in the United States.
"Since last May, we've been working with the United States to put in place tough North American standards for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles," Prentice said at an Ottawa car dealership. "We are pleased to be taking this step to further harmonize our climate change action with the Obama administration =97 a step that will protect our environment and ensure a level playing field for the automotive industry."
Environment Canada estimated in December that the standards would result in a 20 per cent reduction in emissions compared to the 2007 model year. It now estimates the standards would result in about a 25 per cent reduction in emissions for the 2016 fleet of new vehicles when compared with the 2008 model year.
"The proposed standards would require substantial environmental improvements from new vehicles and would put Canadian GHG emission standards at par with U.S. national standards and, by 2016, with the California standards," Environment Canada said in December.
While companies would be forced to comply with the new standards for average emissions of their fleet between 2012 and 2016, they will be allowed to purchase credits or pay a carbon tax to the government to offset emissions at a rate of $20 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for the 2011 model year.
The standards are based on vehicle size to encourage manufacturers to make existing vehicles more efficient as opposed to changing the makeup of their fleet to produce smaller vehicles.
The regulations include a credit system to provide "flexibility" in compliance if they exceed targets, or want to trade credits between companies. The regulations also propose incentives to give double credits for companies that introduce advanced technologies, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles which run on hydrogen.
Prentice has criticized the Quebec government for introducing its own regulations this year to crack down on tailpipe standards, describing it as a "folly."
But Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp indicated on Thursday that her government intended to stick with its plan if the joint Canadian and U.S. standards fall short of meeting the California standards. California has also decided to sign an equivalency agreement with the U.S. government that delays the pace of its originally proposed standards by one year.
Meantime, Quebec has said that its regulations also include fewer loopholes and more stringent reporting requirements for industry than what the Harper government has proposed.
The Harper government said it will adopt its new regulations by this summer, following a two-month public consultation period. Prentice's announcement comes one day after the government cancelled an incentive program for home renovations to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
The program was also previously cancelled by the government in 2006 but restored under a new name, one year later following public criticism.
With files from Kevin Dougherty (Montreal Gazette) and Marianne White (Canwest News Service).
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