The Green Shift: Why it's the right time for this policy

Respected Globe and Mail columnist, Jeffery Simpson, wrote a column earlier this week entitled, "Carbon tax: the right policy, the wrong time" which claimed that, while a revenue-neutral carbon tax is a good policy in the long run, now is a bad time to implement it because the rapid rise in oil prices has, "create[d] genuine hardship for a lot of people". Simpson's article, I think, elucidates what Warren Kinsella said in a blog post which ended with: "I'm not saying no to a carbon tax. I'm saying no to a carbon tax now."

I don't doubt that many Canadians are experiencing some hardship now with the recent rise in oil prices. But that is a reason for providing some tax relief now with tax cuts and refundable tax credits. Look at Dion's Green Shift from another point of view: it's a plan to help Canadians with the higher price of oil by cutting income taxes.

How is this tax relief going to funded? Fortunately, not by borrowing from the future. We're already passing on much of the burden of dealing with environmental degradation to future generations. It will not be funded by cutting social programs. It will not be funded by increased taxes on gasoline because the existing federal excise tax on gasoline is already equivalent to a roughly $40/tonne CO2 tax. But it will be funded in a way that will gently put the brakes on our production of greenhouse gases.

People have been focusing too much on gasoline, and not enough about the fact that much of the Green Shift's tax relief will be funded by users of coal. Higher oil prices might make people think about using less gas, but they have also caused people to burn more coal, a dirtier energy source than oil. This is just one reason why higher oil prices are not a good substitute for a carbon tax.

Warren Kinsella, say yes to tax relief funded by a tax on fossil fuel CO2 emissions now!