Steve Easterbook, director of the University of Toronto’s School of the Environment, said rationing “in some form or another” is inevitable because today’s solutions – such as the carbon tax and emissions trading schemes — don’t go far enough to adequately curb emissions.
“But given the political battles over the federal carbon tax, it’s hard to imagine that voters in Canada would willingly accept rationing until a lot more people experience the impacts of climate change,” he said.
“People need to see that rationing is in support of a massive effort on all fronts. So you can’t just introduce rationing and expect people to go along with it. What we really need is a government willing to make the massive investments in clean energy infrastructure that would create jobs and boost the economy in the process. Rationing comes later.”