A letter to the editor by one Bruce McCallum from Hunt River, PEI, in the Globe and Mail today contains two good examples of how higher oil and gas prices can cause increased emissions and pollution by shifting use to cheaper, dirtier fuels. He writes,
"the district heating plant in Charlottetown recently switched from relatively clean, but increasingly costly light oil, used for peak heating in the winter, to much dirtier, higher-carbon bunker oil, costing roughly half as much."
"Greenhouse owners from across Canada frequently contact me ... frequently mention that they are also considering switching to coal. Coal is cheap and plentiful, but it is the dirtiest, highest-carbon fuel available."
There is no federal tax on the burning of coal presently. It's enjoying a free ride at the expense of cleaner sources of energy.
Mr. McCallum's conclusion is also worth quoting, "Without carbon taxes to level the energy playing field and steer people toward green energy alternatives and efficiency, Canada's GHG emissions will to continue to rise."
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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2 comments:
What you are forgetting is that we live in a global economy and CO2 does not respect borders. If we implement a carbon tax in Canada than the greenhouses may not even be here anymore. What they are doing by switching fuels is trying to lower their costs to compete and stay in business. If you artifically raise their costs they may not be able to compete at all.
Hello Kevin,
The Green Shift plan acknowledges that carbon tariffs (permissable under GATT/WTO rules) can be used to take care of the competitiveness question with respect to countries that do not put a price on carbon.
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