People did not want climate change tax

Greg Fingas’ column on Saskatchewan’s climate change strategy (Prairie resilience: A made-in-Saskatchewan climate change strategy) contains several inaccuracies.

Mr. Fingas takes issue with the word ‘resilience,’ which he believes is “deliberately vague.” I can assure him and the people of Saskatchewan that the word was used quite deliberately, and there is nothing vague about our intent. Even if we reduce our emissions to zero, climate change will still affect our province. Our strategy is about protecting people and communities in addition to working with industry and others to lower emissions.

Mr. Fingas also questions our government’s long-term planning, “while the rest of the world shifts to affordable clean energy.” But Saskatchewan is making that shift as well. We are undertaking the most ambitious expansion of renewable power in our history, which will double renewable power generating capacity by 2030. This is not an insignificant commitment.

Mr. Fingas further states we have discarded emission reductions as an overarching goal. However, we clearly indicate that actions taken on electricity generation will result in a 40-per-cent annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, and methane regulations are expected to reduce GHG emissions in the energy sector by 40 per cent to

45 per cent from 2015 levels.

The strategy also includes flexible ways for emitters to comply with regulations and reduce emissions, including an offset system and a provincial technology fund.

Saskatchewan’s approach to dealing with climate change will not put a tax on people. That is what the people of Saskatchewan asked of us, and that is what our comprehensive climate change strategy delivers. Dustin Duncan, minister of Environment