Here’s another reason why I’m pleased to me a member of the Sightline Institute. Needless to say, I share the opinion of Alan Durning in this article from the Surrey News. (Which is something I picked up from the Sightline Daily – which you can subscribe to, along with a chance for a dinner at a fine Vancouver restaurant, by entering a draw here.)
U.S. environmentalists will closely watch B.C.’s election results Tuesday to track the fate of the continent’s first carbon tax.
As with many B.C. green groups that back the Liberal-imposed carbon tax and have criticized NDP opposition to it, there’s a sense south of the border the policy measure may become politically toxic if the Campbell government falls.
The Seattle-based Sightline Institute recently called the tax one of the best climate control policies in the world and said New Democrats have “systematically misrepresented the facts” by claiming it increases taxes for the average B.C. family and won’t work to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Institute founder Alan Durning also took issue with the NDP dubbing it the “gas tax” in order to “unfairly incite voters to oppose a smart policy.”
He called the party’s tactics “disheartening, deceptive and cynical” – particularly as forecasts of global warming worsen.
The NDP say they’d replace the carbon tax with a cap-and-trade system, similar to what U.S. President Barack Obama plans, and they contend too many industries and emissions escape carbon tax regulation.
They also argue the tax is unfair, raising costs to most people.
Sightline’s Durning says B.C.’s carbon tax is fair because the money raised goes to income tax cuts and low-income credits.
Exemptions for cross-border transportation could be eliminated over time, he said.
“It is the best carbon tax in its design, bar none,” Durning said, arguing it treats all fossil fuel consumers equally and is more consistent than carbon taxes in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
“By raising prices gradually it encourages everyone in the province to squeeze carbon out of the energy system,” he said.
Durning estimates B.C. would have to shut down a huge swath of industry – eliminating 60,000 manufacturing jobs – in order to hit the NDP’s target for emission cuts from industry alone.
He said the NDP should have instead targeted more objectionable Liberal policies, like its Gateway freeway expansion project.
