Gasoline car emissions have been reduced in the UK and Norway. Barry Saxifrage reports that their most effective single policy has been a "polluter pays" tax added to new cars. Specifically, they calculate the purchase tax for new cars based on car weight, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions.
Barry Saxifrage's first chart shows the relative climate emissions from fuelling our cars with gasoline and electricity.
Research shows that making a gasoline car is currently a bit less climate-polluting than making an electric car. Around 2 tCO2 less. But this small advantage gets wiped out many times over by the extra emissions from fuelling the car.
A chart showing the latest vehicle registration numbers from Statistics Canada shows that electric cars are a thin green frosting on top of an ever-expanding fleet of burnermobiles. For every new electric car added to our roads over the last five years, we've added 10 more gasoline cars.
The trend in Canada is an increase in purchases of gasoline cars, SUV’s, and trucks as contrasted by decreases in these purchases in Norway, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and Japan. Barry Saxifrage notes that the most effective single policy in Norway has been a "polluter pays" tax added to new cars. Specifically, they calculate the purchase tax for new cars based on car weight, CO2 emissions and NOx emissions. This can nearly double the cost of buying a polluting gas guzzler. Imagine Canada bringing in an 80 per cent sales tax on big, new gas-guzzling SUVs and you've got the basic idea.
As Canadians switch to electric vehicles in response to the increasing cost of gasoline and concern for the effect of greenhouse gas emission on the increasing frequency and severity of climate events in our country, we may find “polluter pay” taxation to be an effective strategy
References
Saxifrage, B., & Woodside, J. (2023, February 24). Gasoline versus electric cars? Here's how their life cycle emissions compare in Canada. National Observer. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/02/24/analysis/gasoline-versus-electric-cars-life-cycle-emissions-compared-canada
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