Zero for Zero

June 23, 2021 | By

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The federal government has already announced its intention to reduce the corporate tax rate paid by companies that produce zero-emission products. Alberta should piggyback on that effort by announcing its own reduction in corporate tax rates for companies that produce zero-emissions solutions and/or hit net-zero status. Doing so can build on recent momentum and help establish Alberta as a hot-bed and exciting development market for clean technology innovators.

That could even include Alberta’s oil and gas companies. This reduction in corporate taxes would serve as a carrot alongside the stick of a federal carbon price, which is set to rise to $170 per tonne by 2030. Paired together, they could create the right economic conditions for oil and gas companies to make major investments in everything from carbon capture and storage technology to new low- (and even zero-) carbon extraction methods, all of which could ultimately position them to attract more of the world’s growing pool of capital focused on a low-emissions future.