The government of New Brunswick introduced its Climate Change Act on December 14, 2017. According to the government press release ,   the province will adopt the federal government’s intensity targets for the 10 large industrial emitters in the province,  and  will redirect existing taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel – but not heating fuel –  to a new Climate Change Fund.  It forecasts that in 2018, 2.33 cents per litre of existing gasoline taxes and 2.76 cents per litre of existing diesel fuel taxes will be transferred to the Climate Change Fund, amounting to about $37 million, to be invested in infrastructure adaptation and energy efficiency improvements for homes, business, industry and transportation.  For details, see the government Backgrounder  and see the CBC analysis “Liberals’ sleight-of-hand carbon tax formally proposed in climate bill “(Dec. 14) for summary and reaction.  In  “Legislation misses mark on protecting families and communities from worst of climate change impacts in N.B.” , the Conservation Council of New Brunswick calls the government plan “an uninspiring follow-up to last December’s climate change action plan , which was a smart road map for climate action and job creation that was among the best in the country…. we have legislation that largely maintains the status quo and sets us on a race to the bottom when it comes to protecting the health and safety of New Brunswickers and taking advantage of the economic opportunities that come with ambitious climate action.”

The National Observer summarizes the reaction from the federal government  in “New Brunswick defends climate plan against McKenna’s concerns”, quoting the Minister’s  Facebook post which reiterated the federal position that it will impose a carbon tax on any jurisdiction which falls short of federal carbon pricing benchmarks under the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.  In a separate statement on December 15 , the Minister extended the deadline for provincial compliance till the end of 2018.