Canada has threatened trade action against the United States over a massive "black liquor" tax credit to its pulp and paper industry that has distorted global pulp markets.
In a statement Thursday, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Canada has joined the European Union, Brazil and Chile in demanding that the credit, estimated to be worth between $4 billion and $8 billion, be withdrawn.
If you remember, this is the "alternative tax credit" buried in the 2005 highway bill that subsidizes American pulp & paper companies for dirtying up their production processes by adding diesel to the lignin sludge their mills produce as a by-product and then recycle as a clean-burning fuel.
Rather disappointing is the fact that yankee enviros have written very little about this issue (other than a few short pieces I remember seeing at Grist). Don't know if its because it has gone under the radar in all the struggles over Waxman-Markey, or whether there's a little bit of protectionism in their mental makeup.
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It was under the radar before Waxman-Markey, so it's probably more that there are enough similar dodges by polluting industries to allow this one to disappear into the crowd. I've never detected even a whiff of protectionism among U.S. enviros.
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