Proposed U.S. climate deal should convince Ottawa to step up its game, experts say

The massive climate and tax deal announced this week by Democrats in the U.S. Senate should inspire Ottawa to adopt a bolder approach to fighting climate change, some experts say.

The $369 billion deal, unveiled on Wednesday, came as something of a surprise after prior versions of President Joe Biden's proposal failed to gain the approval of holdout Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Manchin now says he can support a scaled-down version of the plan — which would still be, by far, the most ambitious suite of programs to address climate change in U.S. history if it's adopted.

The package includes massive investments to help create new sources of clean energy, to ramp up production and sales of electric vehicles and to compensate low-income communities most burdened by the effects of a warming planet.

"It ups the ante for Canada," said Lisa Gue, national policy manager for the David Suzuki Foundation.

"I'm hoping this will inspire the Canadian government to review our climate policies and maybe look for opportunities to increase investments."

Both the U.S. and Canada are seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. But the two nations are taking different paths toward that goal.

The cornerstone of Ottawa's approach is a federal carbon pricing system that will rise steeply from its current level of $50 per tonne of emissions to $170 by 2030 in order to push consumers toward cleaner energy sources.

In the U.S. — where a federal carbon tax has never been considered viable, for political reasons — the Biden administration is instead attempting to clean up emissions by spending its way into change through enormous investments in green technologies.

The administration's plan includes new tax credits for zero-emissions power plants and for companies that produce green tech like solar panels, wind turbines and batteries.

That's an aggressive tactic that ought to play a larger role in Ottawa's strategy, said Eddy Pérez, the international climate and diplomacy manager at Climate Action Network Canada.

"When it comes to major de-carbonization investments, we have a very timid approach," said Pérez.

By stepping up direct investments in technologies that reduce emissions, Pérez said, the U.S. government could present the fight against climate change as a "public service" — which also could create an expectation of public accountability as initiatives are rolled out.

"Here what the United States is saying is … Congress and the public, we have a role to play to unlock the set of climate investments that are going to get us to the 40 per cent target," he said.