Pricing Pollution The Key To A Sustainable Future - Victoria Lecture

While Canada’s natural capital—its resources, ecosystems and wildlife—is vital to the sustainability of our planet and quality of life, the environmental consequences of production and consumption are often neglected when calculating the bottom line.

A new report by Simon Fraser University economist and public policy expert Nancy Olewiler calls for Ottawa to introduce full-cost pricing, a system that adjusts market prices to reflect not only the direct costs of goods and services, but also their impact on our natural resources and future generations.

Olewiler will be in Victoria on May 8 to present her findings in a free public lecture entitled “Smart environmental policy with full-cost pricing,” hosted by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS). PICS is hosted and led by the University of Victoria in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, SFU, and the University of Northern British Columbia.

This event is an important opportunity to learn about the flaws of Canada’s environmental policy and find out how pricing pollution will ensure both a healthy environment and economy for generations to come.

Media are welcome to attend the lecture. Advance interviews can be arranged by contacting the PICS communications staff.

WHAT:     Free public lecture by Dr. Nancy Olewiler
WHEN:     3–4 p.m., Tuesday, May 8
WHERE:   Room A110, Social Sciences and Mathematics Bldg., University of Victoria

Dr. Nancy Olewiler is director of the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. Her areas of research include natural resource and environmental economics and policy. She has published extensively; written two widely used textbooks (The Economics of Natural Resource Use and Environmental Economics); and produced numerous reports for the Canadian federal and provincial governments, including studies on energy and climate policy, natural capital, and federal business tax policy. Nancy is chair of the TransLink board of directors and has previously served on the boards of BC Hydro and several of its subsidiaries.

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