Ahh, the carbon tax. A perfect way for me to make enemies of my friends and tick off everyone else I meet.
But first, a little background.
The government here in BC has decided to add a tax to our gasoline - which is already taxed - to help reduce consumption and, therefore, to reduce pollution. It also applies to home heating, propane and diesel.
The tax is stating at 2.4¢ a litre (about a dime a gallon) and will rise each year. In four years it will be about 7 and a half cents. To help compensate people during the initial phase, every person in BC recently received a cheque for $100 to make it revenue neutral - sort of a way to ease you into it.
With our gas hitting $1.50 a litre ($6 a gallon), a lot of people are mad about this.
Not me.
In fact, I wish it was more. Yeah, I know it’s an unpopular stance.
Many people will not change their driving habits or what they drive if they’re told that the environment is suffering. But hit them in the pocket book and, lo and behold, people start driving less, buying fewer SUVs, and thinking about riding a bus, taking their bike or even (gulp) buying a scooter!
I think this is exactly the kickstart that people need to make real change to our environmental challenges. The only problem I have with the whole carbon tax thing is that it’s not certain that the money will go to fighting climate change.
How about this? Add 25 cents a litre ( a buck a gallon) and put that money straight into something that will really change how we do things. Public transit, zero emission vehicles, you name it.
Did I tick you off?
I’ll get off my soapbox now....
