The BC Budget: It's A Start

As a Vancouverite, I had been anticipating a carbon tax as proposed by the Campbell government prior to yesterday's budget announcement by Finance Minister Carole Taylor. And, as expected, the "Green Budget" delivered just that, along with a promise that revenues generated from the tax will be returned in varying forms of incentives and other tax relief. Some budget highlights:

• Beginning July 1, B.C. will begin phasing in a carbon tax on all fossil fuels, including gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal, propane and home heating fuel.
• The rate starts at $10 per tonne of carbon-equivalent emissions and will rise by $5 per year for the next four years.
• As of July 1, there will be a 2.41¢ increase per litre in gasoline. By 2012, it will be 7.24 cents per litre.
• For diesel and home heating oil, it works out to 2.2 cents per litre, rising to 8.27 cents by 2012.
• The tax will generate about $1.85 billion over three years.
• Two-thirds of the money raised in the first year will come from business.
• The tax is to be revenue neutral and none of the money raised through the carbon tax will go toward program spending.
  

Personally, I'm ok with this budget. The price hike at the pump will hurt a bit, but frankly I drive a small, fuel-efficient car - and I don't even drive it that much. The $100 carbon tax rebate that will be paid to all BC residents this year will more than cover any added expenses. Is it perfect? No, but it seems a decent start to officially addressing the issue of fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions. And it's far more progressive than anything the federal government has done to date.

In its last budget, the [BC] government announced the most aggressive carbon emission reduction in North America, vowing to cut emissions by one-third within 12 years....Last month in Vancouver, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he was not in favour of provinces taking patchwork action, preferring a national approach to cutting emissions linked to global warming.

But as we all know, waiting for the Conservatives to take action on greenhouse gases is like Waiting for Godot. So the BC budget may not be perfect...but it's a start.