A great article on the May 19 Globe and Mail analyzing how the BC Carbon Tax “’survived” the recent BC provincial election while Stéphane Dion Carbon Shift didn’t. Stewart Elgie, David Boyd, and Chris Waddell , three Law, Economics, and Journalism professors in Ottawa, have come up with six reasons:
- Do not make Carbon Tax as the main issue for the election campaign (that’s what Dion and James did)
- carbon tax is very important, but there are more important political issues
- Keep it simple (not many understand the BC carbon tax; no one understands Dion’s carbon shift)
- Timing is important (Dion brought up the carbon shift when oil is at record price; oil price was 1/3 of the height during the recent BC election)
- Good communication! (Dion couldn’t get his point across; James couldn’t come up with solid carbon policy for her party)
- Deep pocket (Dion had less marketing budget than Harper; James had less marketing budget than Campbell)
- Best policy may not win! (Dion lost on a better policy; yet Campbell won with a better policy) - yes, the Carbon Tax is one of the best policies!!
Here’s one of the best quote about why Carbon Tax should not be the centre of the election campaign:
“If you are a travel company trying to sell a tropical vacation, you emphasize the beach, not the flight.”
- by Angus McAllister
This is it!! We want a sustainable/low carbon future; let’s emphasize on the ends, and let’s work together to get there - through carbon tax, renewable energy investment, energy conservation, or whatever the means might be!
You probably already have read this article about a new poll published indicated that Canadians, especially British Columbians, do not like the BC carbon tax. This type of news, especially during election time, always spreads extremely quickly. Some results from the pool:
- 62% Quebecer respondents supports the carbon tax idea - Quebec currently has a carbon tax which is imposed on energy producers only;
- BC has less than 40% support on carbon tax, least in Canada and less than Alberta;
- 60% of respondents in British Columbia said the tax hasn’t done much to reduce fossil fuel use in the province;
- Almost 60% BC respondents said the carbon tax hadn’t motivated them to change their behaviour; and
- The support for BC style carbon tax gets less support in all provinces/territories.
I have many questions to ask the respondents, both those in BC and outside of BC. To begin with, it’s hard to say how many people actually understand the BC “revenue neutral” carbon tax. My guess is - not many. The lack of understanding of BC’s revenue neutral carbon tax definitely would result in low support in “BC style” carbon tax. Further, it’s very interesting to note that Quebecers have the highest support to the carbon tax idea, when they already have one! There are several differences between BC and Quebec’s carbon tax, and one of them is that the carbon tax is imposed on energy producers, distributors and refiners only to pay for carbon they emit at a price of approximately 1/3 of what the carbon is priced at in BC in 2007. Although the cost is not directly imposed on residents of Quebec, it is ultimately passed down to the rate payers. Perhaps this is why less objections are recorded in Quebec. Finally, apparently 60% BC respondents believed that the BC revenue neutral carbon tax hasn’t motivated them and that the tax hasn’t effectively reduced fossil fuel use in the province. Again I must say if we understand how the carbon tax works in BC, one would be more motivated to change. it’s like if you don’t understand the coupon, would you use it? Regarding to the comment on the effect of BC’s carbon tax - i think we need to wait a bit to see the report card. I haven’t seen any data specifically states the province’s GHG emissions since the introduction of the carbon tax, and to be honest I would love to see it. Before it is released (which i think it certainly will, unless Liberals loses this election), we should be skeptical but be aware that we need to know more before we draw the conclusion.
Finally, another intriguing quote from the poll:
In a further on-line survey of 1,000 British Columbian voters, Harris-Decima found about as many respondents were angry with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell for introducing the tax as were angry with NDP Leader Carole James for opposing it.
Harris-Decima poll, 2009
What are your thoughts??
Metro Vancouver’s 21 mayors have “come together” and agreed unanimously that the BC government should spend some of the carbon tax “revenue” on transit operations. In fact, our mayors think that the BC government should spend exactly $300 Million of the carbon tax. Well, wouldn’t it be nice to just get *free* money from the government?!
I have two main problems with this unanimous decision. First, there is no carbon tax “revenue” under the BC Carbon Tax system…. it is a methodology to shift tax from good tax (i.e. income tax) to bad tax (i.e. pollution tax). This systems works because there is incentive for individuals (persons and companies) to change and thus save money at the end of the day. If the carbon tax collected is to be used in infrastructure, then it’s not revenue neutral, is it?! Secondly, and more importantly, municipalities who have signed up to the BC Climate Action Charter can get the carbon tax that the municipalities have paid back! As of March 31, 2009, 174 municipalities have signed up to this charter and I’m pretty sure that all 12 cities in Metro Vancouver are onboard. How about pooling this amount of money for the transit system for Metro Vancouver? I should look up how much “tax return” each municipality gets!
When times are difficult like now, it’s a challenge to spend money, municipalities included! But why should we, as individuals who have changed our behaviours (willingly or not) and expecting a tax return be told that our mayors have unanimously decided that it’s fine to change the system? That’s what I disagree….
Today, three prominent environmental groups have denounce their support to the BC NDP because of NDP’s agenda to get rid of the carbon tax, as published on this article on CBC.ca. These three groups are the David Suzuki Foundation, the Pambina Institute, and ForestEthics . They held a joint newsconference and stressed that:
Thousands of jobs in the green economy will be lost, and the province will lose its position as an environmental leader if the tax is dropped.
- David Suzuki Foundation + Pambina Institute + ForestEthics
On the other hand, Carole James, the leader of NDP, stressed that:
We disagree with the environmental movement. “We believe a bad tax is a bad tax.
- Carole James, BC NDP Leader
A “bad tax is a bad tax”? What does that mean anyway? I think she needs to revisit what it means by revenue neutral carbon tax, and how this is a “tax shift” and not a “tax grab”!
I’m glad to see more articles on BC’s carbon tax as the provincial election is officially kicking off today, but i’m disappointed again that the article refers the “carbon tax” as “gas tax”. BC’s carbon tax is more than just the gas tax… In BC, only 14% of the carbon tax collected is from gasoline and diesel for transportations!
I like this article, written by a few gurus of the climate change experts in Canada, and published on the Vancouver Sun last week. It’s a pretty easy read with loads of great information. Most importnatly, it’s great to see postive articles about carbon tax, especially at election time. It’s crucial to understand current policies regarding to carbon tax and (eventual) cap and trade systems that we will have in BC, and it’s crucial to understand these policies to make an informed decision for BC, whatever your decision might be.
They commented that to ultimately get to a zero carbon economy, three most important steps are:
- energy efficiency and conservation;
- renewable energy; and
- price on carbon.
Energy Efficiency - reduce energy consumption through increasing energy efficiency. Luckily as wasteful as we are in Canada, we have lots of opportunities to increase energy efficiency. But these come with a price tag: we pay to become more energy efficient!
Renewable energy - whenever possible, consider renewable energy options. ”Renewable Energy” does not need to be as sexy as wind turbines or solar panels. Whenever we can reduce “engineered” resources it’s great. rain water collection is a great example.
Price on carbon - Yes, we need to put a price on carbon; and it will cost us! Through the carbon neutral tax and a cap-and-trade system that is in the plan, this integrated system will allow us to move towards a carbon neutral community. And don’t forget that in addition to paying for carbon, there’ll also be business cases to be involved in this area! Money doesn’t just disappear (well, maybe they do), if we’re paying for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon, then this amount of money could be used to feed back to the system!
The authors:
- Guy Dauncey is president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association;
- Will Horter is executive director of the Dogwood Initiative;
- Merran Smith is climate director with ForestEthics; Tzeporah
- Berman is executive director of PowerUP Canada;
- Michele Patterson is acting vice-president, WWF-Canada — Pacific Region;
- Ian Gill is president of Ecotrust Canada, and Greg Gowe is a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law Association.
BC Carbon Tax, BC Election, Green Tag Line | flo | 
May 20, 2009 12:01 am | 
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