More solutions, less rhetoric needed to fight climate change

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/07/2024 (424 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of you may have received a newsletter from the Honourable Larry Maguire, our member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris. His main message seemed misleading to me, and I felt it important to provide another view.

According to Maguire, the Liberal government’s carbon tax is responsible for the rise in grocery prices. He is also saying that the carbon taxes “have directly caused gas and grocery prices to skyrocket.”

According to leading economists in Canada, Canadian carbon pricing has a negligible impact on overall inflation. The inflation we have seen in the last couple of years was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (disrupted supply chains, pent-up demand), and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on commodity prices. Many countries around the world are dealing with inflation issues regardless of their carbon pricing regulations.

Interestingly, economists say that carbon pricing is the cheapest and most effective way to address climate change, and it is the most democratic as the government is not dictating how each business should lower their emissions.

Instead, it is offering incentives for both industry and consumers to choose options that lower greenhouse gases.

The idea that the carbon tax has made life unaffordable is far from the whole story. According to the parliamentary budget officer, eight out of 10 families receive more in rebates than they pay in carbon taxes. One study analyzing public support for carbon pricing in Canada found people don’t know about the rebates they are getting and tend to underestimate their value.

What Mr. Maguire neglected to mention was the cost of climate change. According to the Canadian Climate Institute, Canadians can expect to see $25 billion in annual losses from climate damage as early as next year. Individual households will bear most of the cost.

Admittedly, “Axe the Tax” is a wonderful slogan. It is a short, dynamic phrase that rolls easily off the tongue and looks good on protest signs. It is the advertiser’s dream.

But, like most advertising slogans, it seems to me it is trying to sell you something for more than it is worth. Most economists and climate analysts agree that carbon pricing is an effective, market-based and fairly equitable way to change behaviour toward CO2 reduction. Federal carbon rebates mean that most Canadians receive back as much as they pay on their fossil fuel purchases.

When asked what alternative they would offer, Mr. McGuire and his colleagues don’t have much beyond praise for carbon capture and sequestration — considered by most climate experts to be the least developed and most expensive of available climate solutions.

Time is getting short for the kind of change we need. It is time for real evidence-based solutions, not catchy slogans. If “Axe the Tax” is the best they can come up with, it’s time for the CPC to get back to the drawing board.

MADELYN ROBINSON

Chair, Sustainable Brandon