The conservative approach is can-do and optimistic. Conservatives do not accept a false choice between American prosperity and a healthy planet.
John Curtis and Heather Reams | Opinion contributors
More than 60 Republican members of Congress recently launched the Conservative Climate Caucus to provide leadership in America’s fight against climate change. All Americans who care about our country and our planet should welcome this development.
Conservatives tackling environmental challenges is in no way new. President Teddy Roosevelt established our national park system, the crown jewel of America’s natural resources, more than a century ago.
But in the hyper-partisan world of climate change policy, these facts are too easily forgotten. As a result, we need to find new ways to spread this message of economic prosperity, energy choice and a cleaner environment.
Fundamentally, the conservative approach is can-do and optimistic. Conservatives do not accept a false choice between American prosperity and a healthy planet. We do not believe that more government bureaucracy ever solved anything as complex as climate, and we have data to prove it. And we do not understand how any effort that compromises America’s national security or our economic base could possibly be the best path to reduce emissions.
Quite simply, we are committed to efforts that will reduce America’s emissions, not our economy; cut energy prices, not energy choices; and export American innovation, not American jobs.
Republicans may not have all the answers on our own, but we have excellent ideas. It’s high time for us to share them and for Democrats to work with us on meaningful policy that can have a positive impact instead of writing each other off as the villains.
Caucus is a forum for learning
With this caucus, lawmakers now have a place to come together and learn about energy and environmental issues from each other, from their constituents, and from top experts in the field without having to worry about hidden political motives or partisan hubris.
As more Republicans engage on the topic, they’ll breathe new life into ideas designed to reduce pollution without putting people out of work, leverage natural solutions to lower emissions, and create pathways for all Americans – especially those closest to the environment, such as our farmers and ranchers – in the fight against climate change.
Study: Climate change fuels heat wave in US, Canada
The recent deadly heat wave in the Pacific Northwest would be virtually impossible without climate change, according to a new scientific analysis. Scientists warn it could happen every five to 10 years if carbon pollution continues. (July 7)
The threat of climate change is real, but so is the threat that our adversaries will exploit any economic harm America self-inflicts for environmental showmanship.
Restrictive, expensive government mandates like the Green New Deal will only compound the problem. We know that the 85% of the world’s emissions that are not generated in America will continue to rise unabated unless we develop affordable, readily adoptable carbon-reducing technologies that work as well for India as they do for Indiana.
U.S. innovation can help the world
The developing world will not sacrifice basic access to cheap energy just because an American or European politician says so. American should bring the cleanest energy in the world to these countries, as opposed to letting them become reliant on our foreign adversaries for more carbon intensive resources.
The Conservative Climate Caucus will be dedicated to American innovation, to advancing private sector leadership on climate mitigation, to building up our resiliency, and to leveraging competitive markets to develop and export the best solutions at the lowest cost, naturally.
It will applaud America’s private sector companies as they set and achieve carbon-reduction commitments, which they are doing at a faster pace than any government command could accomplish.
The climate is changing, and there’s no doubt the industrial era that brought so much peace and prosperity to the world has contributed to that change. This caucus will focus on keeping the prosperity while cutting global emissions, and it will help facilitate America’s return to our Republican conservationist roots.
Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Health, Communications & Technology and the Environment & Climate Change subcommittees. Heather Reams is executive director for Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
