Hey, It's a Wild Carbon Tax
A carbon tax is a fee imposed on each tonne of emissions from fossil fuels, meant to help lower the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions. Under the federal levy, oil products such as gasoline and diesel, natural gas and coal-fired electricity are affected. This new federal law came into effect on April 1st, (no it wasn't an April Fools joke) applies to Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.
The introduced Carbon tax prices carbon at $20 a tonne, or 4.4 cents per litre of gasoline and rise to $50 in 2020. In Ontario it means that the average household will pay $244 in direct and indirect costs of carbon, but will receive $300 under the "climate-action incentive," for a net benefit of $56.
The goal reduction from this carbon tax alone is 50-60 million tonnes by 2022. Originally the four provincial governments opposed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plan, along with the federal Conservative party, who fear it will be economically damaging and far too punitive for consumers and small businesses. Supporters of the Liberal plan say the threat of climate change demands action and a revenue-neutral plan of this sort is the best way to shift patterns of consumption away from greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels.
Scientists and economists agree that when the government puts a price on carbon, it raises the incentive for industries to innovate and find ways to lower their emissions. An example of what can happen from a carbon tax we can look towards British Columbia who saw net emissions fall by 4.7 per cent over eight years after putting in a carbon tax, and another example is Sweden who has seen emissions fall by 26 per cent since implementing a carbon tax in 1991.
Personally I believe that a carbon tax is a good idea. I believe this because climate change is a serious global issue which needs to be addressed, and even one country implementing a carbon tax so that less emissions enter our atmosphere and increase the global temperature. In order to meet Canada's commitment under the recent Paris Agreement emission goals, countries agreed to work towards limiting a global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, and the implementation of the carbon tax is a definite step towards lowering global temperature.
The introduced Carbon tax prices carbon at $20 a tonne, or 4.4 cents per litre of gasoline and rise to $50 in 2020. In Ontario it means that the average household will pay $244 in direct and indirect costs of carbon, but will receive $300 under the "climate-action incentive," for a net benefit of $56.
The goal reduction from this carbon tax alone is 50-60 million tonnes by 2022. Originally the four provincial governments opposed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plan, along with the federal Conservative party, who fear it will be economically damaging and far too punitive for consumers and small businesses. Supporters of the Liberal plan say the threat of climate change demands action and a revenue-neutral plan of this sort is the best way to shift patterns of consumption away from greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels.
Scientists and economists agree that when the government puts a price on carbon, it raises the incentive for industries to innovate and find ways to lower their emissions. An example of what can happen from a carbon tax we can look towards British Columbia who saw net emissions fall by 4.7 per cent over eight years after putting in a carbon tax, and another example is Sweden who has seen emissions fall by 26 per cent since implementing a carbon tax in 1991.
Personally I believe that a carbon tax is a good idea. I believe this because climate change is a serious global issue which needs to be addressed, and even one country implementing a carbon tax so that less emissions enter our atmosphere and increase the global temperature. In order to meet Canada's commitment under the recent Paris Agreement emission goals, countries agreed to work towards limiting a global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, and the implementation of the carbon tax is a definite step towards lowering global temperature.
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