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Secondly, it uses the revenue raised to offset costs to lower-income families and invest in solutions for reducing Alberta’s pollution and energy consumption, which will save us even more money in the long run. For example, programs like the Residential No-Charge Energy Savings Program will save Albertans over $200 million over the life of the devices installed.

How do we know that the carbon levy is not killing jobs or destroying the economy? We looked at the facts and economic data for 2017, which you can find in Environmental Defence’s recently released report Carbon Pricing in Alberta: A Review of its Successes and Impacts. What we found was that in 2017, the carbon levy appears to have had little, if any, impact on the economy overall.

We looked at key economic indicators for 2017, including gross domestic product (GDP), average weekly earnings, the unemployment rate, and the consumer price index (CPI), in order to determine if the carbon levy had an impact on the Alberta economy.

What we found was that 2017 was a really great year for Alberta’s economy, growing at a rate of 4.9 per cent, the fastest growing economy in the country. Wages were up, unemployment was down, and the CPI, the measurement of how much key goods changed in price, was one per cent, a pretty low number for inflation. The carbon levy did not get in the way of a growing economy.

This report follows data that is publicly available to any person; the conclusion that we reached is straightforward and is supported by economists from around the world who point out that a carbon price is the most efficient free-market tool available in the fight against climate change. All of which is probably why carbon pricing is supported by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and by the majority of oil and gas companies in Canada.