Martin D. Heintzelman is the Fulbright Visiting Chair at the University of Ottawa’s Institute of the Environment. He is on partial leave until April from his post as Associate Professor of Economics and Financial Studies and the Fredric C. Menz Scholar of Environmental Economics in the Clarkson University School of Business, as well as Director of the Clarkson University Center for Canadian Studies. He also serves on the executive committee of Clarkson’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment. Martin has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics and an M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan as well as a BS in Economics from Duke University.

With the victory of the Liberals in the federal election on October 19th, Canada’s federal government now has a commitment to establish national emissions-reduction targets, and ensure that the provinces and territories have targeted federal funding and the flexibility to design their own policies to meet these commitments, including their own carbon pricing policies.

Some potentially big news came out of the US White House last week, without making much of a splash. So on this #CleanWaterWednesday, we look at a new US federal directive on natural capital and ecosystem services and we ask ourselves, why are Americans asking themselves “what’s nature got to do with it?”

Zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) are electric and include battery-electric, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell electric cars.

Chances are that you haven’t heard of the ZEV Alliance. It was a pretty quiet announcement, but it is definitely worth noting.

Québec, the Netherlands and California quietly announced last month they were collaborating on innovation and raising international awareness of the rapidly growing market for ZEVs.

An unlikely alliance

At first glance it might be hard to understand how this unlikely partnership came to be, but all three members of the ZEV Alliance share common environmental and economic interests in increasing global uptake of ZEVs.

Recently, Sustainable Prosperity, in partnership with the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and others, launched a research project to explore the links between productivity and natural capital. You can learn more about the project here.

Revenue from carbon pricing is increasing in Canada. Jurisdictions with carbon prices will be able to choose from various revenue allocation options, selecting those that present the best value to them.

Sustainable Prosperity and partners have brought together a group of experts to explore the links between natural capital and productivity. Today, we’ve launched a special project website where we’ll post our findings as they develop.

So, why a project about the links between natural capital and productivity? To answer that one question, let’s look at three questions: