A new coalition in the province is arguing that carbon pricing is essential in the fight against climate change.

The Manitoba Carbon Pricing Coalition (M.C.P.C.) officially launched yesterday morning on the steps of the Legislature in Winnipeg and plan to push the Pallister government to put a price on carbon. The group is made up of climate change activists and public policy experts from groups such as the Green Action Centre and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The group was launched less than a month after the Manitobans Against Carbon Taxes Coalition (M.A.C.T.C.) was founded. The M.A.C.T.C. is made up of members from the Canadian Wheat Growers Association, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. The group believes that any sort of price on carbon will create strain on the economy, which in turn will hurt businesses.

The M.C.P.C. argues their claim, saying that while it will create a pinch on the economy, that pinch will be a good thing since it will drive change.

Manitoba is one of the two provinces not to have a deal in place with Ottawa with regards to carbon and a recent poll says more than half of Manitobans are against any form of carbon pricing or taxation.

Photo courtesy of National Geographic