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LEGAL REPORT: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT gional cap-and-trade bloc that straddles the Canada-U.S. border. There's also the Chicago Climate Exchange, the Europe- an Climate Exchange, Green Exchange, etc. Alberta launched Canada's first greenhouse-gas-emission trading mar- ket last summer. Under Alberta's regime, emitters can meet the reduction targets applicable to each of their facilities by: excess improvements generating perfor- mance credits that are both bankable and tradable); - berta-based projects; and/or Berger_ELTYIR 3/6/08 9:15 AM Page 1 equivalent, with the proceeds going to Alberta's Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund. "If you look at what Alberta's done to date, we have an inter-Alberta mar- ket that we've created through our cur- Discover from experts, how recent developments in environmental legislation, policy and case law will impact your practice today rent legislation which has basically said you can use offsets from other facilities within Alberta but you can't use offsets outside of Alberta to meet your emis- sions requirements," says Grant. Carbon emission trading has the po- Stanley D. Berger and Dianne Saxe With contributions by: Stanley D. Berger, Dianne Saxe, Paul Crowley, Charles Kazaz, Ramani Nadarajah, Kirk Lambrecht, Jessica Clogg, Meinhard Doelle, Dennis Mahony, Rangi Jeerakathil and Clayton Leonard Over the past year, our courts, tribunals and legislatures offered much to think about in the fast-moving areas of climate change, energy, aboriginal rights and water. In procedural terms, class actions and civil penalties continue to grow in importance, as does the rule of international law. This collection of insightful and timely articles, written by leading environmental law practitioners from across Canada, will keep you informed on how these new developments in the law will affect your practice and your clients now and in the future. Articles include: A Shift in the Legal Climate:The Emergence of Climate Change as a Dominant Legal Issue Across Canada by Meinhard Doelle and Dennis Mahony Environmental Law Developments in Nuclear Energy by Stanley D. Berger Inuit Defend Their Human Rights Against Climate Change by Paul Crowley Environmental Deregulation and the Crown's Constitutional Obligations to First Nations by Jessica Clogg Environmental Assessment and Aboriginal Consultation: One Sovereignty or Two Solitudes? by Kirk Lambrecht Watered Down: Issues Surrounding Water Use, Legislation and Policy in Southern Alberta by Rangi Jeerakathil and Clayton Leonard Environmental Penalties:New Enforcement Tool or the Demise of Environmental Prosecutions? by Ramani Nadarajah Class Action Update by Dianne Saxe The Precautionary Principle: Six Years after Spraytech,What Does It Mean? by Charles Kazaz tential to reduce greenhouse gases and possibly become the world's leading de- rivatives product, but which exchange should be used? How do you determine the market value? "The more liquid the market, the more efficient the market, and what you're doing here is that you have all these piecemeal markets pop- ping up, none of which may be entirely efficient," says Grant. "The larger the market base, probably the more efficient that's going to be and you'll have a more efficient transfer of wealth and more ef- ficient market price there." Grant says he feels there is widespread support for doing something to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, even if there's disagreement about which strategy to take. "I think even the companies that are going to be responsible for incur- ring a cost as a result are largely onboard now. I think everyone recognizes it has to happen and it's going to happen, they just want to make sure that they all un- derstand the rules they have to play by. It's really made difficult by the fact you've got all these different jurisdictions doing something different and until you see a consensus building as to where you're headed, it's going to be confusing to ev- erybody involved." Andersen says a happy compromise www.canadalawbook.ca 52 APRIL 2008 www. C ANADIAN mag.com may be a combination of a carbon tax and cap-and-trade systems. "Is a carbon tax something we're going to see going forward? It's a hard thing to imagine," he says. "I know George Bush has pro- posed and received a significant amount of criticism on carbon tax in the U.S. but my guess is you're going to see some combination in some of the different provinces across Canada of a carbon tax and also a cap-and-trade system. I also believe B.C. is also proposing a cap-and- trade system for certain of its large in- dustries." However, says Andersen, that still leaves the issue of piecemeal regula- tion of greenhouse gases across Canada. "You're going to have different regula-