Latest news with #McTeague
Global News
13-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Why have Metro Vancouver gas prices increased despite no more carbon pricing?
Gas pain remains at the pumps around Metro Vancouver. Gas prices have already climbed back up to 177.9 a litre in most places across the region and petroleum analyst Dan McTeague told Global News they are about to go up another four cents overnight to 181.9 a litre. This would mean gas has gone up 24 cents a litre since last week. 'You've seen the past couple of weeks, prices move up, what is about 20 cents a litre or more, mostly due to, you know, an increased demand south of the border in the United States, especially on the Pacific Coast, where we've also seen a series of small but important setbacks in terms of refinery production,' McTeague said. 1:55 Gas price accountability following end of consumer carbon tax He added that the Valero Plant in Benicia California caught fire last week and one of the units that turns oil into gasoline was badly damaged. Story continues below advertisement He said that demand is also up, the Canadian dollar is down and B.C. does not produce enough for the province's needs. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'What has also been a considerable concern is the demand picture in California, in the Pacific Northwest and right here in Vancouver,' McTeague said. 'Given these lower prices, demand is up and we're heading towards this weekend. Memorial Day long weekend in the United States and of course here in Canada, Victoria Day long weekend. That's always been, in my 30 years of doing this, the official kickoff of the summer driving season' 1:55 Gas price accountability following end of consumer carbon tax Premier David Eby announced in March that B.C. would follow the federal government's lead after Prime Minister Mark Carney ended carbon pricing a week before calling an election on March 23. 'The carbon tax played an important role here in British Columbia for many years, assisting us in reducing our emissions while our economy continued to grow,' Eby said. Story continues below advertisement 'It was supported by parties from many different backgrounds in the province. However, the tax has become divisive.' Eby said drivers should see a savings of 17 cents at the pump. McTeague said the elimination of the carbon price did lead to a decrease in price at the pumps, but they are starting to see prices possibly bounce back to normal. 'I say that because a year ago now, gas prices in Metro Vancouver were $202.9 on average from end of city to the other,' he said. 'At $1.78 to $1.81, much of that difference is strictly the carbon tax of 20 cents being removed. All else at this time of year, we do see that upward swing in prices. And so the swing is still there and the positive effect of the carbon taxes now becoming less and less a concern.' McTeague said drivers are likely to see prices move up another 10 cents a litre before they stabilize between now and mid-June, or when the refinery in California gets back online. He predicts that prices between $1.80 to $1 90 will be the new normal, at least going through the summer period.
CBC
06-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
The carbon tax for consumers is gone — for now. But should industry keep paying it?
The consumer carbon tax's demise has made its mark on gas prices across Newfoundland and Labrador, but that doesn't mean carbon pricing will disappear entirely. The price at the pumps plummeted overnight Tuesday by over 20 cents a litre as Liberal Leader Mark Carney's new order came into effect, removing the 2019 surcharge implemented by former prime minister Justin Trudeau as an incentive for Canadian consumers to move to renewable energy. But Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says it's only a temporary reduction. "I don't think it's gone forever," McTeague said in an interview Tuesday. "The Mark Carney government has made it very clear that they are going to somehow transition this to an industrial carbon tax." McTeague says because the Greenhouse Gas Pricing Pollution Act remains in place, the cost of gas at the pumps will start to climb upward once again, because oil and gas refiners are still paying a separate carbon tax. "It will be hidden…. Sooner or later we're going to see some of these prices restored," he said. "All this was a suspension." McTeague has long railed against carbon pricing, in part because he says there's a better way to encourage less carbon consumption. "The technology has changed dramatically in terms of fuel consumption. So rather than going after consumers and saying, 'Hey, listen, you should be the ones to pay for this,' and then hope that there's some kind of technology that makes engines more efficient … the way to go about this is to incentivize the changes that we're seeing gradually," he said. McTeague says Newfoundland and Labrador in particular can leverage its offshore oil income to invest in those technological improvements, and shouldn't be penalized for doing so. One renewable energy investment, he suggests, could take the form of small nuclear reactors — paid for through oil investment returns. "It kind of makes me sad to know that we have as much energy as, say, Norway, and yet we're not taking advantage of it," he said. Environmental advocates, though, say keeping the industrial carbon tax intact will do more good than harm in the long run. "We need to look at the cost-benefit ratio," said Conor Curtis, spokesperson for Sierra Club Canada. "I don't think anybody would argue that seatbelts in cars cost companies money, right? But all the benefits outweigh the costs." Curtis has research to back up his take: a 2024 report from the Canadian Climate Institute found that industrial carbon taxes will cut emissions by 23 to 48 per cent by 2030. "One of the major drivers of us not meeting climate targets, us having a problem with pollution, it really is a corporate issue," Curtis said. "Particularly oil and gas companies, which account for around 30 per cent of our national emissions despite being five per cent of our economy, have been one of the major obstacles in terms of lowering those emissions." Curtis says the industrial tax is expected to spur green innovation — and could have the added boost of tying Canadian policy more closely with European goals. "As we try to diversify trading partners too, looking to Europe ... these are countries that are decarbonizing. So then it becomes also a question of, how do we keep our businesses competitive in a green way, with greener businesses?" As U.S. trading partners continue to forge alternative relationships amid the new administration's combative economic strategy, Curtis says retaining the industrial tax could be key, both in terms of reducing emissions and generating domestic income. "Oil and gas are poor things to base your economy upon. If you're dealing with international unpredictability, when you get these rapid international price shocks to those products ... there's not much you can do about that," he said. "One of the most important things we can do, actually, is diversify our economy, go green, because then we're helping to insulate ourselves from what the U.S. does."
