To the editor,
Does Canada’s carbon tax have a role to play in opposing the invasion of Ukraine?
Russia has invaded Ukraine. One important reason why the response from Europe and NATO have been restrained is because Europe is dependent on Russia for 40 per cent of its natural gas and 25 per cent of its oil.
Two basic approaches have been proposed: replace the supply and/or reduce the demand.
Canada’s carbon tax with rebates system would help with both approaches. Under the system, 90 per cent of the money collected through the tax is given back as equal rebates. In four provinces that have the federal carbon tax (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario), most people get more back in rebates than they spend on the carbon tax.
The system is essentially the same as the carbon fee-and-dividend as proposed by Dr. James Hansen and Citizens Climate Lobby to control global warming.
However, it was originally proposed in the early 1970s by David Gordon Wilson, an engineering professor at MIT, not to control climate change but as a way to reduce American dependence on oil from the Middle East as a result of the 1973 Mideast War oil embargo.
In a 1974 letter to the Christian Science Monitor, Wilson suggested instead of rationing, government should collect a surcharge on petroleum products and distribute the proceeds as equal payments to all adults. Wilson noted that government policy back then had been to allow gasoline prices to rise to meet the shortage, resulting in higher profits for oil companies but hardship for the poor. (Sound familiar?)
Rationing would attempt to make sure everyone got enough, but some need more than others, a huge bureaucracy would be required, and there no doubt would be corruption.
Some Canadian politicians say the federal government should scrap its carbon tax to lessen the impact of the high gasoline prices caused by the war in Ukraine. This is precisely the wrong approach. What we need to do is extend it, not just across Canada, but throughout NATO as well.
If we are going to avoid a major war we must show solidarity with the Ukrainians. Helping Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and oil would be a powerful step in that direction.
Keith McNeill
Clearwater, B.C.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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