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Environment Minister Shannon Phillips is reassuring Albertans that the province’s climate leadership plan will benefit both the environment and their pocketbooks in the long term.

“When we roll out those efficiency programs, many people will be in a situation where their bills are reduced more than what the carbon levy would have cost,” she said Tuesday during a town hall call-in.

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The plan includes introducing a tax of $20 per tonne of carbon Jan. 1, ending coal-fired electrical generation by 2030 and phasing in renewable energy sources.

Phillips had said the town halls will give Albertans an opportunity to learn more about the details of the strategy.

One Edmonton resident who called in questioned how the carbon levy would help businesses struggling due to low oil and gas prices.

“We are barely hanging on and now we have these taxes,” he said. “Can this energy plan be pushed off until Alberta is officially out of a recession?”