Advisory Group Recommends Expanding Provincial Carbon Tax

August 07, 2008 – Scott Simpson of The Vancouver Sun reports…

The British Columbia government should consider increasing and expanding its carbon tax if necessary to stay on track with an aggressive target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a provincial cabinet advisory group recommended Wednesday.
The Climate Action Team made 31 specific recommendations for action, including “a hard cap” on industrial emissions and expanding the carbon tax to encompass greenhouse gas emissions that now escape the tax.
It calls for the government to implement by the end of 2008 “legally mandated” emission-reduction targets for 2012 and 2016. These are interim targets leading to Premier Gordon Campbell’s goal of a 33-per-cent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020.
The team also recommends the province engage residents in public discussions, summit meetings and symposia as part of a campaign to “educate British Columbians about the importance of climate change and the policies that are necessary to address this issue.”
The team was formed last November by Premier Gordon Campbell as a high-powered cabinet advisory group, and includes representatives of industry and business, first nations, environmental groups and the energy sector.
A recent report by the government set out some broad policy directions for moving B.C. towards its goal. The Climate Action Team’s recommendations are, by contrast, very specific.
The provincial government plan, by itself, is expected to move B.C. to about 80 per cent of its 2020 emissions reduction target. The action team’s recommendations are expected to cover the rest.
For example, the team recommends enhancing the role of rail — rather than trucks — in moving freight in B.C., and shifting more truck traffic through the province’s ports to off-peak hours.
It also suggests B.C. toughen its plan to mandate a 10-per-cent reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions from transportation fuel to a 15-per-cent reduction by 2020.
As well, there’s a recommendation that by 2012, all houses and buildings have an energy efficiency rating or label — as electrical appliances such as refrigerators already do — when they are sold or transferred.
The province’s carbon tax on fuels including gasoline, natural gas and other fossil-fuel-based energy sources has been controversial and ill-received since its introduction July 1.
But the team says the urgency of the government’s objective, cutting greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change, justifies it — as long as B.C. sticks to its promise that it’s “offset by equivalent reductions in personal, corporate and small business tax rates.”
It says the carbon tax should be increased after 2012 “if required to achieve the emissions targets” and if “key economic factors” and policies in other jurisdictions change.
It also suggests expanding the carbon tax to cover greenhouse gas emissions that escape the current tax, or wrap those emissions into a cap-and-trade system.
“We recommended that the government take a look at how they are doing on the interim [2012 and 2016] targets and then evaluating … whether additional policies or incentives need to go in place around the pricing of carbon,” team chairwoman Cheryl Slusarchuk said in an interview.
“It’s a conditional recommendation that says if you are short … then this is one of the areas you should look at.”
Slusarchuk, president of the Premier’s Technology Council, said the team’s recommendations are based on the conviction that B.C. can maintain an economic advantage by moving ahead of the pack on tackling emissions.
“I think this is a great opportunity for B.C. to get ahead of other provinces and regions, both from an environmental and an economic standpoint. It’s a great opportunity to build a better place for our kids, and [create] jobs here.”
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner said he was intrigued by several aspects of the report, including the recommendation that the government engage residents in a public dialogue, and a call for development of a surplus of exportable green electricity.
He also noted the idea of energy efficiency labelling for homes and buildings.
“It’s not something many average consumers think about when they buy a house. You’ve got to somehow bring forward those future costs into their consideration. You do that with a mortgage,” Penner said in an interview.
“We will carefully consider the recommendations. They will be put out for public comment for the next 60 days. We will invite the public to submit their comments, suggestions and ideas, and by the end of this year, I will be setting into regulation what the interim reduction targets are for 2012 and 2016.”

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The original Vancouver Sun, ‘Going Green’ feature article entitled, “Advisory Group Recommends Expanding Provincial Carbon Tax“, can be found at:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/going_green/story.html?id=7a07ae6b-d03a-4159-bf81-f43dc1b32074&p=1