It’s April 3rd, for the first time in a while, a few courageous folks are declaring support for the federal carbon tax. They’re declarations are made before an angry mob. One so irrationally angry about the carbon tax, they’re willing to spend more in gas to oppose it than it will cost most of them.
I have only ever used this website to test software, I am penning this post because I think smart people who understand it support it and more people need to step up support of it. I believe there are a lot of overworked, tired, smart people buried under the rising cost of living who only have time to hear the word “tax” and oppose it.
There’s a lot that people don’t know, and there’s a lot of crap we’ve been fed by a frighteningly effective conservative misinformation machine (paywalled article). Cost of living is more severely impacted by massive fossil fuel subsidies to ultra-rich, ultra-profitable corporations than the carbon tax by a mile. I think Justin Trudeau’s government is not only right but courageous by sticking to their guns. And the only thing sadder than all of this is the lack of political leadership and courage across all parties on this issue.
Misinformation reigns supreme
Carbon tax and gas prices
The thing that seems to have gotten so many people out of gear is gas prices. Since the advent of the personal vehicle we’ve built a society that requires most people to have a car. We build our shops far from our homes. We build our services far from our homes. We build roads where shops, services, and homes might otherwise be.
When you say, ‘Hey! We should build communities such that you can walk to the things you need,’ the far-right conservative conspiracy nuts go wild, claiming the sky will fall and the commies are taking over. In reality, if we could walk to work and walk to the store, we wouldn’t be whining about a carbon tax meant to save us all from certain death (sadly, at the insurmountable cost of minor, first-world conveniences).
There are a few ways of looking at the impact on gas prices. A friend on Facebook might have put it best when he said “so gas is now the same price it was a couple of weeks ago.”
Another is to look at how much fuel the average Nova Scotian uses and figure out the impact of the $0.038 increase. It’s about $53 … per year.
Team Trudeau
I want to see good policy that ensures a measurable reduction in GHGs and that helps build a more equitable, smarter economy. While the Trudeau Liberals have most certainly failed the implementation and communication test on the carbon tax, it is the right thing to do and it was courageous. Were they as courageous at keeping some of their other promises the impending threat of a Pierre Poilievre Conservative government would be unthinkable. Sadly, it’s all but a certainty at this point.