More $billions down the climate drain

Environment Canada plans to restrict carbon dioxide from coal-fired electric generation plants at a cost to Canadians of $8.2 billion. The government's justification includes:

Issue: Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are primary contributors to climate change. The most significant sources of GHG emissions are anthropogenic, mostly as a result of combustion of fossil fuels.... [ie. the usual dubious UN IPCC dogma]

Cost-benefit statement: The proposed Regulations are estimated to result in a reduction of approximately 175 Mt CO2 of GHG emissions over the period 2015–2030. The present value of the costs of the proposed Regulations is estimated at $8.2 billion, largely due to the incremental natural gas costs ($4.8 billion), reduced net exports and new capital costs. The present value of the benefits are estimated at $9.7 billion, largely due to the avoided social cost of carbon (SCC) of $4.3 billion, avoided generation costs of $3.8 billion, and health benefits from reduced smog exposure of $1.4 billion. The net present value (NPV) ... blah, blah, blah ... [...avoided social cost and health benefits? Speculative, unverifiable malarky.]

The Friends of Science Society's response to the proposed regulations was submitted on Sept 30.

It's so maddening to see the Conservatives blowing this kind of cash to no effect except appeasing the green flake lobby.  As if they can ever be appeased by anything short of a completely wrecked economy.