BC NDP is way offside on the carbon tax issue

I just read this article about the Axe The Gas Tax campaign being launched by Carole James and the BC NDP. Essentially Carole James and her caucus want to delay the implementation of BC’s new carbon tax so that the matter can be further debated in the fall session of the legislature. The NDP wants the focus of any carbon plan to be on a cap and trade system that targets big emitters. Carole James and the NDP are advocating a strategy that is more of the same, more consultation, more debate, and no action. Something needs to be done now, and a carbon tax is a great place to start.

The NDP should be able to outflank the BC Liberals on the environment file, but by opposing the carbon tax they are digging themselves into a big environmental hole. Sure the carbon tax will cause an increase in already high gasoline and natural gas prices, but putting a price on carbon for everyone will eventually lead to people changing their behaviour. If as a consumer you do not want to pay the carbon tax, or pay less of it, then you just need to consume less energy. The carbon tax impacts consumers, and business, it is necessary to change the behaviour of society in general. The NDP should have supported the carbon tax, and if they wanted to, argue that the BC Liberals need to do more to address climate change.

The BC NDP’s opposition to the Liberal’s green initiatives may win them some rural votes, but it is going to hurt them in many urban areas. A carbon tax is necessary if we want to make immediate impacts on green house gas emissions. The BC Liberals are not just introducing a carbon tax and calling it a day, there is a plan for a cap and trade system as well, two initiatives that are necessary to immediately combat the rise in GHG emissions.

The BC carbon tax is not a tax grab. The $100 carbon tax offset checks are going to offset most of the new tax revenue (I think that the rebate checks are a terrible idea, income tax cuts would be better). BC is finally getting on the right path to reducing GHG emissions, and the BC NDP is working against what is positive change for the environment. The BC NDP is way down in the polls lately, not something I would ordinarily be happy about, but if it takes a Liberal victory to keep BC moving towards positive GHG reduction plans then I will welcome a BC Liberal victory. The BC NDP has a little less than a year to change its misguided opposition to the carbon tax.