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Wildrose critic speaks out against Carbon Merchants

Alberta’s carbon offset market continues to short change farmers as a company identified as breaking contracts is still registered

Alberta’s carbon offset market continues to short change farmers as a company identified as breaking contracts is still registered on the Environment and Sustainable Resources Development (ESRD) registry, Wildrose Environment Critic Joe Anglin said recently.

In November, the Farmer’s Advocate Office received several complaints from farmers who used Carbon Merchants Corporation to deal with their carbon offsets, advising farmers to seek legal counsel for contract remedy advice. Alberta Agriculture and Development alleges Carbon Merchants are not delivering on their contracts.

As of April 22, Carbon Merchants was still listed on the ESRD website.

“This is a serious credibility issue for this government with a company that is still registered in the market even though it has defaulted on carbon contracts,” Anglin said. “It’s clear that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing as this government continues to fail to protect the market.”

With the Auditor General twice reporting that there exist significant credibility issues in Alberta’s carbon market with the market verification process, Anglin questioned how valuable Alberta’s carbon offset scheme has been since its introduction.

“The Auditor General has made it clear that there’s no verifiable way to know how the government’s climate change targets are being met through programs such as these and at the same this government continues to chip away at its credibility with its own mismanagement,” Anglin said. “The government needs to start making the process more transparent and do more work to hold alleged fraudulent companies accountable.”