Liberals' Failure on Climate Change will cost Billions

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner made the following statement in response to the Environment Commissioner of Ontario’s Climate Change report: 
“It’s deeply disturbing and irresponsible that the Liberal government has no plan to address climate change. 
 
We can’t afford to ignore the fact that climate change threatens Ontario’s economy and environment.
 
There are solutions that can make a difference today, but the Liberals lack the political leadership to make them happen, while the PCs bury their heads in the sand and the NDP abandons the environment with short term thinking.
 
It’s even crazier that the Liberals own long term energy plan completely undermines and contradicts their climate change plan. Instead of wasting hundreds of millions on gas plants that will increase Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions, it would make way more sense to invest in the cheaper and greener alternative of conservation and efficiency.
 
But the Liberals fail to explore new ideas, and the opposition doesn’t challenge them to do it.
 
I want Ontario to be a clean tech innovation leader in the emerging low carbon global economy. One way we can do that is to lower business and income taxes fairly by putting a price on carbon pollution. 
 
Both Alberta and BC have shown how putting a price on carbon can benefit the economy and the environment.
 
BC, for example, enjoys some of the lowest provincial income taxes in the country. Since implementing carbon pricing, the BC economy is doing well, and reducing its GHG emissions.
 
Climate change will cost Canada’s economy $5 billion by 2020 and up to $43 billion by 2050 according to the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy. Environment Commissioner Gord Miller says that climate change could cost the Ontario forestry industry alone $75 billion by 2080.
 
The status quo is not working. The Liberals are missing in action on this file, and their failure puts our future at risk. We can’t afford a government that turns its back on the environment in a way that will cost our economy billions.”