President Obama is not alone in wielding governmental power to clamp down on carbon-emitting energy. While he weaponizes the Environmental Protection Agency to take on coal-powered energy, potentially shutting down hundreds of coal-fired power plants, Alberta’s new socialist NDP government is pushing ostensibly environmentally-minded policies on shared premises of combating “climate change.”
America’s coal industry has seen a slew of bankruptcies in recent years, partly related to new regulations via the EPA.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. posted a $405 million loss during its second quarter of this year after being hit with $579 million in new in taxes. The company posted a $1.07 billion profit during the same period of last year. Without the tax increase, the company says it would have posted a $178 million profit. CNRL blamed the new tax hike on energy companies imposed by the newly-elected socialist provincial government for its losses.
Another energy company, Canadian Oil Sands, posted a $128 million loss during its second quarter of this year. Of the losses, $120 million were the result of new taxes. During the same period of last year, it posted a $176 million profit. The company blamed both declining oil prices and the newly-imposed taxes. The current price for crude oil is less than half of what it was a year ago.
The socialist NDP formed a majority government in Alberta’s provincial election on May 5. Once in power, it increased taxes on corporations and “high-income earners.”
The NDP plans to raise existing taxes on carbon emissions from $15 to $20 per tonne in order to combat “climate change.” The NDP also wants to impose a federal tax on carbon emissions in order to reduce “carbon pollution.” Thomas Mulcair, national leader of the NDP, has channeled President Obama’s position on the mothballed Keystone XL Pipeline, claiming that if elected Prime Minister he would approve it only if it is “consistent with Canada’s climate targets.”
H/T Rebel Media and Ezra Levant
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