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A Tale of Two Climate Policies: Political Economy of British Columbia's Carbon Tax and Clean Electricity Standard

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  • Ekaterina Rhodes
  • Mark Jaccard

Abstract

In 2007-08, British Columbia implemented two significant climate policies: the first broadly based carbon tax and the first almost 100-percent "clean" electricity standard in North America. We describe the key design characteristics of these policies and analyse them against the criteria of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, economic efficiency, administrative feasibility, and public acceptance. We find that the clean electricity standard is estimated to reduce four to six times more emissions per year by 2020 than the carbon tax, but at an average cost per tonne of CO 2 reduced that is significantly higher than the carbon tax at its current level. Interestingly, the clean electricity standard achieves higher and steadier levels of public acceptance, which might be attributed to its lack of visibility, relative to the carbon tax.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekaterina Rhodes & Mark Jaccard, 2013. "A Tale of Two Climate Policies: Political Economy of British Columbia's Carbon Tax and Clean Electricity Standard," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 39(s2), pages 37-52, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:39:y:2013:i:s2:p:37-52
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    Cited by:

    1. Jongmin Yu & Seokjong Ryu, 2018. "Optimal Design of a Politically Feasible Environmental Regulation," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 34, pages 75-99.
    2. Tvinnereim, Endre & Mehling, Michael, 2018. "Carbon pricing and deep decarbonisation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 185-189.
    3. Melton, Noel & Axsen, Jonn & Goldberg, Suzanne, 2017. "Evaluating plug-in electric vehicle policies in the context of long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals: Comparing 10 Canadian provinces using the “PEV policy report card”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 381-393.
    4. Hasan, M.A. & Chapman, R. & Frame, D.J., 2020. "Acceptability of transport emissions reduction policies: A multi-criteria analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Carroll, Deborah A. & Stevens, Kelly A., 2021. "The short-term impact on emissions and federal tax revenue of a carbon tax in the U.S. electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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