I have written before about the remarkable (at least to
Americans) political resilience of the British Columbia carbon tax, and the
current general election campaign there underscores that phenomenon (my
comments on the last general election here). Voting is on May 9 (story here) and none of the three major
parties contesting the election wants to eliminate or roll back the tax.
The BC Liberals (despite the name, the most conservative
party in the race, and not affiliated
with the federal Liberal party) form the current government. Their platform calls for a continuing
carbon tax freeze, which they argue will support the principles of
affordability, competitiveness, and revenue neutrality while advancing the
goals of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change.
The New Democratic party (basically a labor/social
democratic party) anticipate that the carbon tax will need to increase to meet
federal targets and promise that when it does, they will use the increased
revenue to fund climate change projects and to send “climate action rebate
checks” to lower and middle class families. They want to position themselves as “leaders in climate
change solutions.”
The Greens (self-explanatory) want to increase and expand
the scope of the carbon tax, while eliminating the principle of revenue
neutrality and using at least some of the revenue to fund climate change
investments.
My summary may be an oversimplification, but I think the
overall picture is clear. The BC
political parties are arguing over how to use the carbon tax and whether to
increase it. No one is arguing for
reducing or eliminating it.
Is there a takeaway for US observers? I’m not sure, but at least it’s
refreshing to see political arguments that don’t include the anti-scientific, flat
earth viewpoints we see here.
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