OTTAWA — A new battle brewing between Alberta and Ottawa over the incoming federal cap on oil and gas emissions could mark the start of a new era in Canada’s climate politics, with the carbon tax now all but defeated.

One expert says to expect a very different sort of fight this time around.

Trevor Tombe, an economist with the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, says that regulatory mechanisms like the emissions cap can be a more elusive political target than direct carbon levies as their costs to consumers are largely hidden.