Making the voluntary mandatory

On their surface, voluntary carbon reductions may seem like easy dodges. After all, while bodies like the Chicago Climate Exchange and the Western Climate Initiative have set laudable goals of their own (six per cent below 1998 – 2001 levels by 2010 for the CCX and 15 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 for the WCI), all it takes to avoid abiding by their rules is, well, refusing to abide by their rules. Or does it?

As the Globe and Mail revealed last week, the WCI has found a way to extend its reach beyond its already considerable member base — seven American states and three Canadian provinces (B.C., Manitoba and Quebec), along with nine “observers” to touch some folks who, up to now, not been interested in being part of the gang.

By placing a premium on Alberta’s “dirty” coal power, the WCI would essentially be placing Alberta’s power under the initiative’s cap-and-trade approach without Alberta’s explicitly joining the initiative. And all this comes after the provinces collectively failed last year to create a binding agreement between them on carbon trading.

The WCI’s move is no idle threat, given that B.C. is a net importer of power from the largely coal-fired Alberta grid. So, while the measure will have the effect of penalizing Alberta for continuing to produce about 5,840 mega watts of coal power a year, it will also have a direct effect on the cost of B.C.’s power. It’s an added premium that bears a comparison with the increased costs of B.C.’s carbon tax.

The first in the country, the carbon tax’s express purpose is to make consumers pay the full price for the energy they use. And given the WCI’s interest in increasing the cost of Alberta’s power, it seems clear that keeping those costs contained won’t be as simple as avoiding voluntary standards (a lesson the Canadian government has already started to learn).