CLIMATE CHANGE
CARBON TAX / CARBON PRICING
The Globe & Mail editorial in the 3 July 2019 edition headline is:
"The real carbon tax is the money provinces are spending on lawyers" Ontario & Saskatchewan Courts of Appeals have both ruled in favour of the Federal Government - the Carbon Pricing Regime is Constitutional. The Ontario court goes further and calls it a "regulatory fee" in contrast to the "Carbon Tax" label used by the Provincial and Federal Conservatives. The Ontario ruling also makes the case for why a federal regime is necessary. In spite of this, Alberta has announced that it too will challenge the Federal Government regulatory fee and the Saskatchewan government is going to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Globe & Mail editorial rightly questions the expenditure of taxpayers money on these court challenges. Click Here is a link to the Globe & Mail editorial.
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Here is an interesting Toronto Star opinion piece by NATE LAURIE 18 Feb 2019.
Basically he argues that there is a ton of science around climate change. The cost of climate change if there is a 1.5 C change by 2040 could be $54 Trillion. On the other hand, Ford and other Conservatives have virtually no science supporting their claim that Carbon Tax will cost jobs. We have seen in other opinion pieces that show currently in Canada, the green industry employs more people than the auto industry. People will change buying behaviours creating demand for new green products and as a result create new jobs. Check out Links for a link to the entire article. In a 25 Oct 2019 National Post opinion article by Peter Shawn Taylor, describes quite well how the federal Liberal "climate action incentive" will work. However, he then abandons his opinion and hands over the opinion to the anti-carbon tax interest group, the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada.
The federal government is changing the wording from what was once a “federal carbon levy” is now a “price on pollution.” The government is going to give back most of the money collected to individual taxpayers to offset what they will spend by using polluting products such as gasoline. The idea is that if you find ways of using less gasoline (driving less, changing driving habits, upgrading to more fuel efficient or electric vehicles), you then get to pocket the refund. The concern is that much of this "price on pollution" will occur at the medium and small business level. Taylor essentially ends his article on this last point giving over the last third of his column to the opinion of Jocelyn Bamford, founder of the anti-carbon tax group Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada. The impression is left that medium and small businesses will shoulder virtually all of the price on pollution burdon. However, this is not entirely true. A few industries particularly vulnerable to foreign competition will be subject to an "Output Based Pricing System" in which they will effectively be rebated a portion of the money collected, but all will face a price on pollution. The bottom line is that there is a price for pollution. We either contribute a price on pollution as we pollute in an effort to reduce pollution now, or we choose not to reduce pollution now and we end up paying much more later on when the ravishes of climate change really kick in. Also check out Maura Forrest's video clip on Everything you need to know about Canada's new carbon-tax. Click here. There is an interesting article in the 14 Dec 2018 edition of the Globe & Mail by Mark Jaccard. Mark Jaccard is a professor of sustainable energy at Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management.
The headline does catch people's attention, but as you read the article you will see that he does support Jaccard says "We economists only say it is because we prefer it. If we were honest, we would explain that decarbonization can be achieved entirely with regulations. These will cost more, but not a great deal more if policy-makers use flexible regulations, or “flex-regs,” that allow companies and individuals to determine their cheapest way to decarbonize." Jaccard has introduced a word that has not been used much if at all in these carbon pricing discussions, and that is "flex-regs". In future posts, I will try to share a deeper understanding of the term. From what I know so far, "flex-regs" in conjunction with carbon taxes / carbon pricing is probably the best answer. I have already alluded to "targeted regulations" in previous blogs as being a prudent and necessary part of our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions globally. Jaccard is not saying that "flex-regs" are more cost effective than carbon pricing but they can be an important tool in our global battle to save the world. I agree. Here is a link to the article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-divisive-carbon-prices-are-much-ado-about-nothing/ You may have noticed that more and more reporters are referring to Carbon Pricing rather than Carbon Tax. A Carbon Tax is one way of putting a price on carbon, but it is not the only way. Targeted regulations are also required and they too will in effect put a price on carbon.
Any term that uses the word "Tax" immediately gets a great deal of pushback from many in the public, and of course there are numerous political leaders who are, somewhat hypocritically, jumping on this. They will put a price on carbon one way or another but just not call it a tax. Pollution is not free. Not even for the public. If calling it a tax is the issue, then lets not call it a tax. We all have to contribute to reducing CO2 in order to save our world. That includes government, big corporations, small businesses, and the public. Of course it has to be done in a way that does not create undue hardship for anyone. But it has to be done. I have modified my header of this blog to acknowledge the broader term "Carbon Pricing". Here is an article by Shawn McCarthy in the Globe & Mail on 13 Dec 2018 reporting that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce backs carbon tax / carbon pricing. In fact, as many are now doing, they are arguing that Carbon Tax / Carbon Pricing is required but also some targeted regulation.
The article ends by pointing out the the smaller Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses does not support Carbon Taxes. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadian-chamber-of-commerce-backs-carbon-tax-in-report/ I have just read this 53 page environmental plan released by Ford's PC's. Here are my observations and comments focusing on the CO2 issue.
Here is another interesting opinion piece from the Globe and Mail by Christopher Ragan a conservative economist and director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-if-youre-a-conservative-who-opposes-carbon-pricing-are-you-really-a/ Not too far into the future, a 10 year old sat down with her grandfather and told him she was sad.
"And why are you sad sweetheart?" "We are studying about climate change in school and we are learning that many of the terrible catastrophes we see around the world such as wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, sea rise are the result of climate change. I'm so sad that so many people around the world are dying. And I'm afraid the we might be killed in an environmental catastrophe." "We learned that humans are largely responsible for this climate change when they pollute the atmosphere with carbon dioxide. " "I'm sad too sweetheart. You are right, things are worse than they used to be. But we are finally working on fixing the problem." "The teacher told us that climate change is worse today because our ancestors didn't start working on the problem soon enough. They didn't want to pay more for gasoline or other things that caused carbon dioxide pollution." The little girl then paused and appeared deep in thought as if she gradually saw a new insight into what she had just said. Then she looked up and asked, "Grampa, were you one of those who didn't want to pay more for your gasoline?" |
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Julian SaleRetired and loving life. One of my many interests is Climate Change and in particular, the debate about Carbon Tax in Canada and elsewhere. This opinion and information blog features my FaceBook postings plus additional content for more in depth information. Archives
July 2019
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