EDMONTON—Alberta’s carbon tax is dead — and with it, a source of funds for programs tackling everything from methane emissions reduction to Alberta’s Indigenous climate capacity program.

Cutting the tax was at the top of the United Conservative government’s list after winning the April provincial election. According to Thursday’s budget documents, that decision also meant the government lost $1.1 billion in potential tax revenue. The tax also supported roughly two dozen green energy and efficient appliance programs, including a number focused on Indigenous communities. None of the programs are accepting applications any longer.

A spokesperson for Environment and Parks said funds for these programs are fully committed — but happen to be funded by the carbon tax, putting their future in question. Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon was not available for an interview following the tabling of 2019’s provincial budget on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the United Conservatives’ Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction plan — set to take effect Jan. 1 — will be the centrepiece of their soon-to-be-drafted climate plan. But government departments are due to see about $100 million in reductions for climate change initiatives over the next four years — along with cuts to oilsands environmental monitoring.

Department cuts include $36 million from Agriculture and Forestry, all $17 million allocated for climate change initiatives under Indigenous Relations, and a total of $76 million between 2019 and 2023 from Energy. In terms of total climate fund assets held by the Alberta government — TIER, as well as Energy Efficiency Alberta and carbon tax revenue — 2019 will mean a drop of $334 million compared to the year before. It’ll hold steady at just over a half-billion dollars over the next four years.

Budget documents also detail a $7-million cut between the previous NDP government’s budget and 2019 for oilsands environmental monitoring, as well as a $2-million cut to environmental science, monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Regulatory and operations funding for Alberta’s emissions management will be cut nearly in half.

Marlin Schmidt, the NDP’s environment critic, said the UCP is also trimming water partners and stewardship funding intended for local agencies. Documents show the previous NDP government budgeted about $3.5 million, but spent closer to $7.5 million. Thursday’s budget will trim it to $3.8 million.

“We know that Albertans value the natural heritage in this province. They’re proud of the beautiful province that we have,” he said. “And I think they’d be very upset to see that this regime is cutting back on crucial environmental monitoring.”

The United Conservative government’s TIER regime focuses on large industrial emitters, such as oil facilities. Under it, facilities that emit above 100,000 tonnes of CO2 or equivalent greenhouse gases will need to reduce their emissions intensity by 10 per cent compared to their average performance between 2016 and 2018.

“It’s going to be a comprehensive program that will target our heavy emitters in this province and cover roughly half of Alberta’s emissions,” Finance Minister Travis Toews said on Thursday.

Facilities can do this in several ways: pollute less, buy emissions “credits” from facilities that have exceeded their compliance credits, buy offsets from reductions elsewhere in Alberta’s economy, or pay into the TIER fund — at $30 a tonne.

Thursday’s budget predicts the fund will gather about $1.9 billion over four years to develop technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time. This money is intended for technological enhancements, including carbon capture technology for major emitters and more efficient oilsands extraction technology.

It’ll also chip in $5 million in 2019 for the Coal Workforce Transition Program, an NDP-launched initiative to support workers and communities impacted by the ongoing phaseout of coal-fired power plants. However, it will also fund activities completely unrelated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

About $672 million over four years will go to reducing Alberta’s deficit. And $80 million is earmarked for the Canadian Energy Centre — the Alberta government’s war room intended to combat criticism of the province’s oil and gas industry. Its total budget is $30 million a year — $20 million from TIER revenue, and another $10 million from the Alberta government’s advertising budget.

Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Parks will also be cobbling together a climate strategy of its own, Thursday’s budget reads, one that “strikes the right balance between environmental protection and economic growth, and that recognizes Alberta as an ethical and reliable source of energy.”

Toews told reporters on Thursday that legislation for this strategy is on its way, although he didn’t offer a concrete deadline.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley slammed the United Conservatives’ plan as ineffective compared to the previous NDP government’s plan, noting Canadians voted for a substantial response on climate change during the federal election.

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“We need to show them that we’re doing something on climate change,” she said. “What we’re doing right now under his budget, under this government, is hiding from the fact of climate change — and that is wrong.”

With files from Nadine Yousif

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