Gas prices hit $1.20 and will be higher
B.C. should implement carbon taxes penalizing fossil fuel use in all guises to meet its targets for greenhouse gas reduction, say two retired senior provincial civil servants.
That would mean higher fuel taxes for motorists in the near term and eventually a tax on all products produced with energy from carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels.
The recommendations come as prices for regular gasoline hit $1.20 a litre in Greater Vancouver.
The two, Bruce McRae and Don Wright, set out their case in a greenhouse gas reduction policy analysis.
McRae served as an assistant deputy minister in the energy and forest ministries from 1978 to 2003, while Wright was deputy in the forest and education ministries, as well as secretary to the Treasury Board. Wright joined the provincial government in January 1991, left in October 1997, then returned in June 2001 and served until June 2003.
n the long run, they say, a carbon tax will be cheaper for consumers and more effective for the environment than alternative schemes requiring complex carbon emission trading systems, or subsidies for green energy initiatives with no proven return on investment.
To bolster public support, they suggest B.C. look at cuts to other taxes, such as the provincial sales tax or personal income taxes, so the introduction of a carbon tax scheme doesn’t look like “a raid on pockets.”
It does look like “a raid on pockets.”
read more HERE (canada.com/vancouversu news)
