The carbon tax is a B.C. success story that has earned the province a worldwide reputation for implementing an effective tool in the fight against climate change. The premier should overcome her hesitant support for the measure and remove the freeze on the carbon tax.
In announcing B.C.’s Climate Leadership Plan on Friday, Christy Clark said she needs to balance the carbon tax with her obligation to protect the economy, jobs and affordability for families. She seems to be echoing fears expressed when B.C. implemented the carbon tax. Critics said it would kill jobs and dampen the economy, but experience has shown otherwise. B.C.’s economy has out-performed that of other provinces since the tax was implemented.
While other jurisdictions have made vague and unrealized promises about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, B.C. walked the talk. When the carbon tax was implemented on all forms of fossil fuels in 2008, it was set at $10 a tonne for greenhouse-gas emissions. That added 2.4 cents to a litre of gasoline. The tax was increased annually, rising to $30 a tonne — about seven cents for a litre of gasoline — in 2012 when the rate was frozen.
When the Gordon Campbell government made the carbon tax law, it promised it would be revenue-neutral, not the cash grab some critics feared. And that promise has been kept — the tax has been more than offset by cuts in other taxes. And fossil-fuel use in B.C. declined by 14 per cent between 2008 and 2014, even as it rose three per cent in the rest of Canada.
B.C. has proved that environmental measures can be good for the economy, earning praise from such entities as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank and The Economist.
Climate change can seem an overwhelming issue: Yes, it’s a major problem, but what can I, one person, do about it? When you pay the carbon tax at the pump or on your natural-gas bill, you’re doing something about it. You can choose to burn less fuel. It’s a regular reminder to be alert for ways to reduce greenhouse-emissions.
The province’s new climate-leadership plan contains some commendable steps, including an “ambitious” tree-replanting plan, new energy-efficiency standards for gas-fired boilers, making electric vehicles more affordable, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and making B.C.’s electricity 100 per cent renewable.
But Clark has rejected calls by her own climate-leadership team to increase the carbon tax steadily to meet the province’s greenhouse-gas emission targets by 2050, saying she was unable to support the recommendation to increase the tax by $10 per tonne a year beginning in 2018.
She said B.C.’s carbon tax is already far ahead of other provinces, and she would consider increasing the tax only as “other provinces catch up.” But that’s leadership for you — it usually means being ahead of the pack. It’s not a bad thing to stay there.
Climate change is upon us, and it’s like a ship that takes a long time to stop. If we put off making necessary changes, our children and grandchildren will pay the price.
Clark has never liked raising taxes (MSP premiums and hydro rates notwithstanding), and so she is probably steering a careful course toward the next election. Perhaps she should be steering a more cautious course into the future.
