Canada's Carbon Tax is Only Zero-ed, not Gone, Warns Friends of Science Society; Climate Risk is Exaggerated

CALGARY, AB, Sept. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new video by Friends of Science Society warns Canadians that the carbon tax has only been set to zero, and that they were paying $80/t when the social benefits of carbon dioxide emission (CO₂) are significantly greater than the social costs according to calculations using the FUND economic model. The video explains that an analysis by Friends of Science Society's research director, Ken Gregory, using the FUND model, shows that carbon dioxide warming and fertilization provide a Social Benefit of Carbon, versus a Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). According to Gregory's analysis, FUND estimates the SCC of Carbon in 2025 to be $7/tCO₂ (USD) at 3% discount rate, and once revised for Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE), CO₂ fertilization and other corrections, the cost (benefit) is $-13/tCO₂.

On his first day in office, Prime Minister Mark Carney set the carbon price to zero, as the policy had become wildly divisive with the public. Canada's consumer-facing carbon tax was introduced in 2017 under then Environment and Climate Change Minister, Catherine McKenna. As explained in the Friends of Science Society video, McKenna pitched the carbon tax as only costing people pennies per liter of gasoline. A carbon rebate was incorporated, providing what proponents of this policy, Citizens for Climate Lobbying, call "climate money."

The new Friends of Science Society video explainer offers key points from an Open Letter to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). The letter expresses concerns about a "climate damage" function chosen by the central bank group "Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)." NGFS have outlined a Shadow Price on Carbon of some $800/t to achieve Net Zero 2050 – ten times what Canadians had endured. 

The recently released US Department of Energy climate science report does not support claims of extreme future economic damages to the GDP of the USA due to climate change. 

By contrast, McKenna reveals in an interview with The Energy Mix published on Sept. 16, 2025, that during the first Trump administration, "So we created the Ministerial on Climate Action, which was me telling China, [Chinese climate envoy] Xie Zhenhua, and [EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias] Cañete that we had to do this. Saying that we're not losing the Paris agreement after one year because we have Donald Trump, who doesn't believe in climate change."

Friends of Science Society denounced McKenna's UN High Level Expert Group report for its lack of due diligence on Net Zero realities, in a post on Nov. 28, 2022, titled, "Integrity Matters" Mandatory Climate Reporting – A Risk to Society."

McKenna has been active in the media, promoting her new book "Run Like a Girl" – much of which is reportedly focussed on her carbon tax battles in politics. She is also the CEO of Climate & Nature Solutions, a company that seems to be poised to capitalize on Canada's thrust toward Nature-based Climate Solutions.

If Article 6 is enacted to incorporate international trade via carbon offsetting on nature, a price on carbon would have to be established again, says Friends of Science Society. With Canada's debt spiralling ever higher, Canadians may also be concerned about the confluence of these issues. The World Economic Forum has proposed "debt-for-nature swaps" (DNS) as a "climate solution." The WEF promoted the notion of a global price on carbon by 2030 in its "You'll own nothing…" video. Recently, the Financial Times has promoted the concept of a global carbon pricing scheme for COP30.

McKenna said in her Energy Mix interview, "The physics says more fossil fuels, hotter planet. And I think that's important. Physics doesn't care about politics."

Physicist Steven Koonin, who, among other honors, served as Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy (2009-2011) in the Obama administration, is co-author of the US DOE climate science report which does not support McKenna's claims on climate. Koonin published an article in the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 07, 2025, titled, "At Long Last, Clarity on Climate."

Carbon pricing had a devastating impact on farmers in Canada. Friends of Science Society invites you to join them in-person or via live stream for "Food Prices, Farming and Net Zero Ideology." Guest speaker Dr. Joseph Fournier is a well-respected Alberta scientist and prolific author, as well as being a rancher himself

About
Friends of Science Society is an independent group of earth, atmospheric and solar scientists, engineers, and citizens that is celebrating its 23rd year of offering climate science insights. After a thorough review of a broad spectrum of literature on climate change, Friends of Science Society has concluded that the sun is the main driver of climate change, not carbon dioxide (CO2).
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SOURCE Friends of Science Society