Good column in the Globe and Mail yesterday by Gary Mason on the carbon shift debate. He focuses mainly on the debate between the Campbell Liberals and James NDP in B.C., but also makes several references to the national debate over the Dion plan as well. There are actually pretty clear parallels between how the opponents both federally and provincially are trying to take the idea down.You know what the most depressing thing is about the carbon tax implemented today by the B.C. government? It's not the 2.34 cents a litre it adds to the price of gas at the pump. It's the sad, pathetic and often hypocritical political attacks the tax has been under at the expense of any clear-eyed, intelligent discussion about feasible alternatives.
(Just to note, of course, no direct gas tax increase through the Dion Liberal Green Shift plan.)If I could urge Canadians to do anything in the next few months, it would be this: Don't let politicians do your thinking for you. Arm yourself with knowledge so when they come and try to snow you for crass political gain, you can call them on it.
There's too much at stake to do otherwise.
Indeed. To do otherwise would be, to use a word, crazy.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Mason: Carbon shift opponents “playing politics with the planet”
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5 comments:
When are people going to get that it's not about saving money, it's about saving the planet?
Article in the G&M points out, waiting for the technology and then implementing it. globally, by 2050 will arrive at the same ghg reductions needed to avoid the gw disaster predicted.
That the 'trillions' spent on early investment are wasted, lost revenue.
It makes sense, given the decades we have to effect change.
''Pointless to rush a carbon emissions plan''
''Yale University economist William Nordhaus says, well, slow down, friend. We have time. Let's do this thing properly.''
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080702.RREYNOLDS02/TPStory/Business/columnists
Hello Wilson,
The same paper by Nordhaus advocates a carbon tax of $40/tonne to be able to achieve the modest goal of limiting the temperature increase to 2.5C by 2100, or limiting the CO2 concentration to a doubling.
See this post for more details. Perhaps Neil Reynolds will come around a support a carbon tax now.
Gary Mason is a total Liberal partisan.
In the 2006 election campaign he wrote a column on then Liberal David Emerson which fawned over the "Star Liberal Candidate" in terms that no campaign brochure would dare to exceed.
A month or so later, when his star Emerson switched sides, poor Mason was livid.
Budd, I haven't read Mason regularly since I've been out East but when he was a sports guy with the Sun, all his Canucks articles always seemed to mention the genius of Jean Chretien, so maybe you're right.
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