Columnist irresponsible
Re: Kieran Report: Liberals need to axe the carbon tax; July 12-18
Brian Kieran's opinion piece on the carbon tax disseminates misinformation as well as encouraging socially irresponsible behaviour. Kieran claims that the carbon tax doesn't work even though the only comprehensive report done on the tax from Sustainable Prosperity seems to clearly show that B.C.'s carbon emissions have dropped considerably as compared to the rest of Canada during the period of the tax. Kieran claims that the measure of the tax's success should be in whether we saw a drop in actual fuel sales, but that's just plain silly.
To start with, B.C.'s population has grown during the tax period, so the only valid comparison to make is per-capita as the report does, and to compare B.C. to a baseline as the report also does. Kieran ends his piece by criticizing the tax for "taking hard-earned cash out of the pockets of fuel-dependant, road-weary consumers." What? If we give even a whit about those among us under 30, not to mention their children, it’s well past the time we stopped looking at our addiction to driving around in individual gas powered vehicles as some kind of right.
Sure, a few people really need to do as much driving as they do, but most of us could easily cut back. Victoria has a pretty good, relatively uncrowded bus system and it’s a great city for biking. Instead of whining about gas prices, how about slowing down your life a little and getting out of your car now and then? You might even find it improves your life.
Paul Rasmussen,Oak Bay