1. We have a new report out today, looking at the first year of cap-and-trade and Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan. You can access the report here. d20kfwpqfq9zq7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/upl… We’ve also got this blog up about it. environmentaldefence.ca/2018/04/09/car… #onpoli #onclimate
2. This is the first report that looks at the impact cap-and-trade has had on our economy and looks for evidence that the plan might be impacting emissions. 2017 emissions data won’t be officially reported for a while, so we looked for other indicators. #onpoli #onclimate
3. 2017 was the first year of cap and trade. It was also a very strong year for the economy. Ontario’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in 6 yrs. It’s lower than the national average as well. #onpoli #onclimate 
4. Ontario’s economy continued to add jobs during the first year of cap-and-trade. All told, Ontario added over 150,000 new jobs during 2017. #onpoli #onclimate
5.There’s no evidence that cap-and-trade has hurt Ontario’s economy. And in fact, the 4 provinces with carbon pricing led economic growth in Canada in 2017 and are expected to stay strong in 2018. #onpoli #onclimate
6.On the emissions side, it doesn’t look like cap-and-trade had an impact on gasoline sales. That’s not surprising really, given that cap-and-trade only added about 4 cents to the price of a litre of gasoline. #onpoli #onclimate
7.Natural gas sales, however, may have been impacted. Ontario sales are down over 2016, despite the fact that 2017 was a colder year, and that nat gas sales in the rest of Canada were up. #onpoli #onclimate
8.The drop in natural gas sales in Ontario is driven by a drop in industrial gas use, which is down by 15%. Importantly, this is not because of a drop in economic activity. Manufacturing employment rose in 2017 by 4.5% over the same period. #onpoli #onclimate
9. 1 other price of good news for Ontario: gasoline sales may not be down, but electric vehicle sales are up 120%. 2017 was the first year where more EVs were sold in Ontario than in any other province. #onpoli #onclimate
10. So, all in all, cap-and-trade and Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan look to be working as intended. The economy is strong, natural gas sales are down, and EV sales are up. #onpoli #onclimate
11. The report was done with our allies @CleanEconomyA - the coalition of 100+ organizations that united to support climate action and CO2 pricing in Ontario. #onpoli
12. And we did a companion report with @CCPA_Ont which showed that there is no compelling reason to swap cap-and-trade for a carbon tax. d20kfwpqfq9zq7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/upl… #onpoli #onclimate
13. Either system can be effective at reducing GHGs. Neither would have a large impact on economy. $2B is small in a $800B economy. But, if anything, cap-and-trade is marginally better for economy and enviro #onpoli #onclimate
@dalebeugin @andrew_leach @riversNic Curious to hear what you make of our report out today. A first, and early, glimpse of how cap-and-trade is impacting ON economy & GHGs.
ICYMI: We put a report out today on Year 1 of cap and trade in Ontario. In short, sky didn’t fall. Economy strong, employment up. Natural gas sales down (good!) and EV sales up.
