To the editor:
In response to Robert Wilson’s letter, Carbon Taxes a Marvellous Cash Cow, I would like to ask Mr. Wilson to check his facts. The vast majority (97 per cent) of the world’s scientists are no longer questioning that climate change is real and that is man made. Nor are they questioning the laws of gravity or that the earth is not flat.
We have all witnessed the droughts and terrible wild fires that have accelerated in this area with climate change. While it would be easier to stick our heads in the sand and deny that anything is happening, the next generation will surely not thank us for doing nothing.
During the period before 2012 when the B.C. carbon tax was slowly increasing, greenhouse gas emissions in B.C. did decrease while the economy kept growing. Pricing carbon is the easiest, lowest cost way to shift to a greener economy. It has been endorsed around the world as the best to put a price on pollution and limit climate change.
The BC carbon tax revenue has all been returned to citizens in rebates, so it was never a cash grab. That will change slightly with the current government, who will redirect a portion of the tax into green infrastructure.
I am optimistic that most British Columbians have a better grasp of the facts than Mr. Wilson, and that they truly care about the world we are leaving for the next generation
Judy O’Leary, Nelson