A short review of the challenges facing Canada to find a way to encourage reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) production show that common ground between “green” political strategists and conservatives may be found in some policies that both parties can accept.
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| Common ground on coastal erosion |
Thomas Walkom, National Affairs Columnist for the Star, writes that the climate apocalypse is fast approaching. That’s the word from federal government scientists who issued an alarming report on climate change in Canada. They say that even in the unlikely event that the world meets its global carbon emission targets Canada is at high risk of extreme temperatures, drought and flooding.
The opposition Conservatives, joined by like-minded governments in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick, attack Justin Trudeau’s Liberals for imposing a carbon tax to deal with the global warming problem.
But they offer nothing plausible in its stead. Ontario Premier Doug Ford argues that he doesn’t need to do anything to reduce carbon emissions — that the decision of a previous government to shut down the province’s coal-fired electricity generating plants was sufficient.1
The American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world declares that carbon tax most efficient in tackling climate change.
A tax on carbon emissions, however, does not suffer from these failings. It is efficient because it puts an explicit price on all carbon emissions, which unlike the hidden cost of regulations, is designed for firms and consumers to avoid. And while this initiates a reduction in emissions, it also raises revenue that can be utilized to counteract any drag on the economy arising from the tax—say, through an offsetting reduction in income tax rates that encourage work and investment.
A carbon tax also creates an unhampered incentive for innovation, which could dramatically lower the cost of reducing carbon emissions in the future. With the cost of emitting carbon uniformly higher, consumers and producers will make a broad set of adjustments. Some changes will occur quickly, such as fewer miles driven, while others will occur over time, such as more energy-efficient homes and buildings. All along, producers will pursue newer technologies to supply our electricity demand in a low-carbon fashion. This is in stark contrast to targeted subsidies or grants that narrowly encourage just one type of technology, research, or innovation.2
Jim Farney, Associate Professor University of Regina, writes that it is inescapable that the 'what should be done,' if it were to be done by conservatives, would have to look remarkably like a carbon tax.
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| conservative principles and carbon tax |
The harmony of a carbon tax to reduce GHG toward IPCC recommended levels with some principles espoused by traditional, religious, populist, and free market conservatives is hopeful as common ground in our efforts to mitigate floods, fires, and coastal erosion in a warmer Canada.
References
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(2019, April 2). Canadian politicians are obsessed with the wrong crisis | The Star. Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2019/04/02/canadian-politicians-are-obsessed-with-the-wrong-crisis.html
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(2019, March 1). Carbon tax most efficient in tackling climate change - AEI. Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://www.aei.org/publication/comment-carbon-tax-most-efficient-in-tackling-climate-change/
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(2018, November 12). Is there a conservative case against the carbon tax? Not really - The .... Retrieved April 6, 2019, from https://www.hilltimes.com/2018/11/12/conservative-case-carbon-tax-not-really/175171
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