THUNDER BAY, TORONTO, ON, - August 18, 2008 - The CTF research reveals that in the fourth year power costs will have grown by $1.5 billion per year for 111 power plants in Ontario alone. Meanwhile, Mr. Dion's carbon tax plan offers a 1% corporate and small business tax reduction by the end of four years, amounting to tax cuts of around $811 million to be applied to all Ontario businesses. The Statistics Canada business registry for Ontario lists 365,649 businesses to share the tax relief. "Presumably, all of these businesses would share that relief. Even if the relief went only to these 111 power plants, there would be a significant cost increase for them" added Gaudet.
The CTF used 2007 data of carbon emissions from all power plants and power companies, published by the Center for Global Development through its Carbon Monitoring for Action Initiative at www.carma.org.
Gaudet concluded, "Support for his federal party's carbon tax is only one of Mr. McGuinty's plans to curb carbon emissions - all of which will add costs to business. Others include a cap-and-trade program and a low carbon fuel initiative. They are going be very expensive and painful for businesses and families in Ontario who will be the ones left paying the bill. The CTF analysis doesn't even touch the tax impacts to energy-intensive businesses like the steel or automotive industries."
A summary of the impact analysis for the fourth year of the Green Shift is below:
|
|
Ontario
|
|
Total Carbon Emissions (Tons of CO2) from Ontario Power Plants
|
37,267,014
|
|
Green Shift Carbon Tax per ton (at year four)
|
$40
|
|
Total Cost for Power Carbon Emissions for 111 Power Plants
|
$1,490,680,566
|
|
Green Shift Corporate and Small Business 1% Tax Cut for Ontario Businesses
|
$811,000,000
|
|
Employer Businesses in Ontario - July 2008 (corporations and small businesses)
|
365,649
|
A detailed list of all 111 Ontario power plants and power companies with their respective carbon emissions may be found HERE.
About Center for Global Development
The Center for Global Development (CGD) describes itself as an independent, Washington DC based, not-for-profit think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community.
About CARMA
The CGD initiative Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a massive database containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. Power generation accounts for about 25% of global emissions. CARMA is reportedly the first global inventory of a major, emissions-producing sector of the economy.