Green shift or not, everyone should already be making choices to reinvent their lives in ways that use less carbon sourced energy, send less money to dangerous foreign tyrants, and do less harm to the environment. Sadly, because individuals can shrug off their duty and leave it to others to cut oil use (the free rider problem) only government driven reduction in use will work.
If people took on the shift from carbon on themselves, government action wouldn't be needed. We can argue over whether the Green Shift is the right approach or not (there are other approaches that might work), but recognizing the free rider issue it is up to government to impose what should otherwise be a voluntary civic duty.
Regardless, the Green Shift is a workable approach and something to take very seriously.
Carbon tax plan boosts Dion's image, if not Liberal fortunesBy Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Stephane Dion's risky proposal to impose a carbon tax hasn't rocketed the Liberal party to the top of Canada's political charts, but it does seem to have given the leader's image a much-needed boost.
Full Story Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080727/national/dion_summer_tour
1 comment:
MM: nice to see a liblogger acknowledging that there are other legitimate approaches to pricing carbon and reducing emissions (www.ndp.ca/betterplan being one).
I agree that we should all be taking personal responsibility in trying to reduce our carbon emissions (buy local, reduce car trips, limit energy use in the home, etc.). We also have to realize that won't be enough. We do need government to help push/ease the transition to a greener economy.
That is why I support the NDP cap and trade plan. It has hard caps on industrial emissions. Unfortunately the Dion plan has no caps on emissions whether industrial or consumer generated. Cap and trade also would likely be implemented more quickly than carbon tax. The Dion plan would require a massive re-write of our tax code and the taxation bureaucracy. That will take significant time. Several provinces and US states are already working on a carbon market. We already have a similar program with the US for the toxins that generate acid rain.
Gore's recent challenge to make the electrical energy providers in the US carbon neutral in 10 years underscore the NDP position. Although Gore does support the notion of a consumer carbon tax he is calling on government to focus on converting the electrical energy sector because we all use electricity at home and work and reducing emissions to zero in this sector will have a huge impact. A focused approached will be more effective than the scattershot approach of a consumer carbon tax.
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