British Columbia Carbon Tax

[notslow]

Hey Guys,Quite possibly the hottest issue in my province right now is North America's first consumer-based carbon tax that will be kicking in on Canada Day (tomorrow) in British Columbia. As a result of this tax, gas prices will rise 2.4 cents and by 2012 it will end up being over a 7 cent difference. The BC Finance Minister is claiming that this is the broadest carbon tax in the world as it covers all fossil fuels. To try and shut everyone up about the government pitching in to jack up the price of gas they sent every British Columbian $100 to by boxes of Kleenex.Part of me thinks this is a good idea as it encourages people to be more environmentally conscious but at the same time I have a VERY strong feeling that all the money won't go back into credits and income tax cuts as they are promising. I think better ways to encourage green movement could be brainstormed. Whats your opinion?

http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/...x.htmh ... ve...38130

[smockers83]

In terms of cutting carbon emissions, a carbon tax is the easiest and most effective way. The carbon content of every fossil fuel is known, so all they have to do is figure out how much fossil fuel was used and they can determine the tax amount. A cap-and-trade system as in place in the EU won't work as technology for carbon emissions doesn't readily exist. Carbon taxes also add stability in fuel prices compared to cap-and-trade which would introduce more volatility.

I don't know how much of it will actually be revenue-neutral, but I would hope some of that revenue would be used for more research in the industry and for clean up purposes.

I'm in favor of the taxes instead of the trade system being worked on here in the US.

http://www.carbontax.org/issue...trade/