Alberta NDP leadership candidate Sarah Hoffman said her climate change plan is the most aggressive in the province’s history. “I know some folks are going to say that this goes too far, but when I see what Alberta is facing such as catastrophic drought, unprecedented wildfires and air that isn’t safe for our kids to breathe on a summer’s day, I know that it’s time for dramatic action,” said Hoffman at a Wednesday press conference. “The time for creative accounting and fun with numbers or aspirational goals is over.” .Under her climate change plan, Hoffman said polluters will pay. Corporations that make record profits pulling carbon out of the ground will have to pull it out of the air. She acknowledged public dollars will have to help people reduce their emissions and energy bills. If her plan is implemented, she said it will build an economy for the future now. As premier, she said she will take back control of carbon policy by implementing a cap and trade system to replace the Canadian government’s carbon tax, oil and gas cap, methane regulations, and Clean Electricity Regulations. She added she will adapt Alberta’s industrial carbon tax to form a new cap and trade system and expand it to cover all industrial emissions. Revenue will be redirected from industry subsidies and the Canadian Energy Centre into ways to help Albertans reduce emissions and their bills. Her government will recommit to a net zero electricity grid by 2035. It will launch a solar for all program to try to make energy bills more affordable for people, families, small businesses, community groups, and First Nations. Additionally, it will reverse the Alberta United Conservative Party’s policies on renewable energy projects and bring them to the front of the queue for regulatory approval. While the plan was ambitious, she said she was most proud of her proposal to establish a youth climate corps. She called this “a one-stop shop for young Albertans who want to take control of their own climate destiny.” The youth climate corps will connect young people with jobs and allow them to take action to fight climate change. These jobs could include building renewable energy projects, expanding protections in communities for climate change and responding to extreme weather events such as floods and fires. These jobs will be unionized and have embedded training, qualifications, and post-secondary education. The United States has launched a similar program. Hoffman said her plan is bold, ambitious and unapologetically NDP. It is a solution to fight climate change. Climate Justice Edmonton organizer Juan Vargas endorsed Hoffman’s climate change plan. “It’s easy to say we’re in a climate emergency,” said Vargas. “We know it.” Hoffman followed up by saying she will cost her climate change plan when she runs in the next election and creates the next platform. “We’ll see how much of this Danielle Smith takes action on in the next three years, but I will say the cost of not doing this is so much more than the cost of doing it,” she said. “It’s important that we invest the money and it will probably be hundreds of millions maybe even billions of dollars in making sure we protect our cities.” Last year, the Alberta government spent almost $3 billion fighting wildfires. She said her climate change policies are “absolutely fundamental to make sure we have a strong energy future and great air, land and water for all of us to live on.” Smith said on March 13 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s actions will determine if he listened to her concerns about the carbon tax. READ MORE: Smith says Trudeau’s action on carbon tax will be louder than words“We’ll find out in a couple of weeks whether or not he was persuaded by it,” said Smith. True North Alberta correspondent Rachel Emmanuel pointed out Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has called for people to protest outside Liberal MPs’ offices.
