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Alberta’s new NDP government said Thursday it would double the province’s existing carbon levy on large industrial emitters within two years and launch consultations on a broader climate change plan that should be unveiled as soon as this fall.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips announced the existing $15-per-tonne levy will increase to $20 per tonne next year and $30 per tonne in 2017.

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The system introduced by the former Tory government requires industrial facilities — such as oilsands operations and coal-fired power plants — that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year to cut emissions intensity by 12 per cent below a baseline.

Under the NDP’s plan, that target will stay the same this year, but increase to 15 per cent in 2016 and 20 per cent in 2017.

“We elected to take an important first step to signal a further action on climate change. That is something that we saw successive previous governments dither on, put it off, never any real decisions,” Phillips said in Edmonton.