This article on Burnaby Now is published on June 6, 2009. Since 1999, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, had held “gas tax honesty day” each year. Yes there are a lot of tax associated with gasoline, and it is a tax grab from the government. Same with tabacco tax and alcohol tax. But, the Carbon Tax imposed on gasoline and other fossil fuels is not the same! Again and again, people are misunderstood because those who publish articles do not understand (or do not want others to understand) the “revenue neutral carbon tax” system that is implemented in BC. In BC, the carbon tax is set up so that if you change your behaviour, you may be rewarded! I don’t want to re-write what i wrote before, you can read more about the BC Carbon Tax here and here.
I agree that we need to be honest about what tax we’re paying into the “Gas tax”; but we also need to be honest about the “carbon tax”.I don’t think this article was honest about that! Also, I also disagree that Stephen Harper was right when he said a carbon tax will “screw everybody”.
The bottome line is that we know that we need a price on carbon so that we’ll eventually change our behaviours! Don’t forget that the carbon tax in BC was found to be the best climate change policy in Canada.
What do you think?
If you were a student not living from home, you probably have moved several times during the duration that you’re a student. I was personally in Kingston Ontario for about 6 years, which I moved 5 times. When I move, there are two types of moving boxes: cardboard boxes and plastic totes. For cardboard boxes, we usually take some from grocery stores or collect used ones from the lab. We moved so much that we know which types of boxes are sturdier than others! Yes, those apple boxes =). For certain items that may contain liquid (shampoo, sauces, cleaning products, …etc), we use plastic totes. We reuse these cardboard boxes, give them away when other people need them, and we’ve recycled others when we don’t need them anymore. We keep all plastic totes.
We try as hard as we can to not buy any boxes, and we’ve done quite well. But wouldn’t it be nice to just rent some reusable boxes for the move? Well, if you live in Vancouver, you’re lucky! FROGBOX does exactly this! It’s an awesome idea and in an environmentally conscious and transient city like Vancouver, they could do quite well! The process is simple - they drop them off, you pack the boxes and move, and finally they pick up the boxes! I would consider using it in my next move if I need more boxes!
What do you think?
The Challenge Series is an online book, it tells the story of Vancouver’s Olympic Village at Southeast False Creek: Millennium Water. It will be published in eight monthly installments, available on the web and in print, it focuses on the visioning, planning, design and construction processes and celebrates collaboration and sustainable innovation. This is the first month and it was published on May 22!
This introductory chapter provides a glimpse into the history, policy and personalities that shaped the development of a sustainable community in Southeast False Creek (SEFC). Formerly an important industrial hub for Vancouver, SEFC occupies a key piece of waterfront real estate adjacent to the city’s downtown core. The future of SEFC became a focal point of discussion in the early 1990s, following the city’s decision to release the SEFC lands from the industrial land base. It became clear that the redevelopment of this 80-acre, centrally located site presented an opportunity to make a statement about the direction of future development in Vancouver.
In 1991, after years of discussion, consultation and weighing of options, Vancouver’s city council determined that the SEFC lands should be a model sustainable community: “On the south shore of False Creek, develop a neighbourhood that is the model of sustainability, incorporating: forward-thinking infrastructure; strategic energy reduction; high-performance buildings; and high transit access.” This proclamation marked a momentous achievement for the City of Vancouver, and a turning point toward a sustainable approach to urban design. In the ensuing years, city staff and countless people from local interest groups and the professional community became involved in the visioning process for the site’s redevelopment.
Chapter One of The Challenge Series describes SEFC’s past and future, discussing the importance of sustainable community development. It looks at the influences that led to the policy development and design of a new sustainable neighbourhood.
from the Challengeseries.ca website
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….
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 | flo | 
June 18, 2009 7:08 am | 
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