February is Valentine’s month, so why not take the time to send your Member of Parliament a loving reminder about the need for action on climate change?
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February is Valentine’s month, so why not take the time to send your Member of Parliament a loving reminder about the need for action on climate change?
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So let me get this straight – you want the government to slap a tax on CO2 pollution but return the money to the public? What will they spend it on except the goods you’ve made more expensive by adding a CO2 tax?
I’m sure the money, minus expenses, will enjoy the short round trip.
At first glance your comment appears to have some logic to it, but it doesn’t hold up under closer scrutiny. You are making the assumption that there is no option for consumers except high carbon content choices. Putting a price on carbon will start to internalize the social cost of fossil fuels. As dirty energy gets more expensive, cheaper greener options become even more attractive than they are (and they are attractive now even with an artificially low fossil fuel cost, along with huge subsidies to dirty energy).
Consumers will have help to deal with rising energy costs (a must for governments looking to get their citizens on board), and meanwhile will make increasingly green choices just based on the economics (you can’t count on the majority of people doing the right thing just because it’s the right thing. That’s just reality, however much we’d like to wish it away). The extra money in the economy (as opposed to in the pockets of the Wall Street wankers who will profit from a cap & trade scheme) stimulates the economy – interestingly, the recently completed REMI study on fee & div shows that a bunch of sectors of the economy do better, not just green energy.
Don’t take my word for it – check out this info on Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s website, along with the original REMI study. It’s good news!
http://citizensclimatelobby.org/carbon-fee-and-dividend/
http://citizensclimatelobby.org/remi-report/
Compare the difference in costs between Canada and the UK. We have about the same average salaries +8.3% after tax. Gasoline is 93% higher and utilities are 74% more expensive.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Canada&country2=United+Kingdom
We supposedly have a CO2 per capita footprint about half that of Canada although that doesn’t include imports which are high. We have smaller properties, a milder climate and shorter distances to travel. A large part of the price differences for manufactured goods are down to energy costs. Do you think we don’t try to reduce what we use?
How much are you prepared to pay to halve Canada’s CO2? How far would $350 go?
Hi again Tiny – I’m pretty sure you didn’t check out the links that I posted. If you had, you would have noted that the REMI study supports the principle that when you put a fee on what you want less of (carbon pollution) and increase what you want more of (income) it has a positive effect on both decreasing carbon emissions and stimulating the economy. In fact BC’s transportation emissions have decreased 17% since the introduction of a fairly small carbon tax (now up to $30/ton) in 2009. The REMI study concluded that in 20 years of a steadily rising carbon fee and dividend program CO2 emissions would be reduced 50 percent below 1990 levels.
But I’m not an economist, and I’m not interested in debating you. I look at the evidence – both of the BC experience and economic modeling (in particular the highly regarding Regional Economic Modeling Inc report) and believe the evidence that I am presented with.
You are perfectly right to disagree with it if you don’t like the evidence, but hopefully if we are both concerned about the climate we can agree that continuing to allow polluters to pour carbon into the atmosphere without any penalty (and in fact with taxpayer’s subsidies) is not a good thing.