If you took as gospel the good word from the talking heads at the CBC and CTV, or the ink-stained scribes at The Globe and Mail and National Post, you’d swear Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax will doom us all.
But what the hell is the carbon tax, anyway? And why is it the worst thing ever?
Carbon pricing (derisively and henceforth called ‘the carbon tax’) is a fossil fuel fee levied on everything from gas at the pump to plastic packaging. While it’s endlessly irritating for consumers, economists generally agree it’s among the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2015, Trudeau’s third-place Liberals defeated Stephen Harper’s incumbent Conservatives in part on a promise to introduce carbon pricing. But now Pierre Poilievre is running on a promise to kill the tax – even though the Conservatives ran on a similar plan in the last two elections.
Trudeau announced three changes to the carbon tax last week. One of them is totally uncontroversial: The Liberals are doubling the pre-existing carbon-tax rebate for rural Canadians, who tend to be poorer and who tend to rely more heavily on fossil fuels.
The other two changes have Poilievre’s Conservatives and Canada’s commentariat crying foul. First, the government is now offering to cover the entire cost for low-income households to switch from oil furnaces to heat pumps. Second, home heating oil will be exempt from the carbon tax until 2025.
One key complaint is that these changes amount to a policy flip-flop and betrayal in the fight against climate change. Yes, it’s true that home heating oil – effectively kerosene – is significantly more polluting than natural gas. As yes, it’s true that the carbon tax is meant to reduce, not reward, pollution.
But only 3% of Canadian households still use heating oil. So Canada actually stands a chance of eliminating it – or at least reducing usage to the point where it’s only being burned by off-the-grid ideologues who don’t want to give up their oil furnaces.
The other key criticism is that these changes amount to regional pandering. Yes, it’s true that Atlantic Canada is the only place where a significant number of homes are still heated with oil. And yes, it’s true that Atlantic Canada is the only rural area where Liberals are popular.
But Atlantic Canada is relatively tiny, and the rest of Canada is relatively huge. While 30% of Atlantic Canadian households are heated with oil, compared to just 3% in Ontario, that’s nearly the same number of homes – 286,000 in Atlantic Canada compared to 266,000 in Ontario.
Nonetheless, critics claim Trudeau’s tweaks to the carbon tax create two classes of Canadians. Yes, it’s true that homes heated with natural gas are not getting the same break as those heated with oil. And yes, it’s true that this is unfair to homeowners with natural gas furnaces.
But here’s the thing: There are already two classes in Canada – and they have nothing to do with how homes are heated. The two classes in Canada are those who live pay cheque to pay cheque – or social-assistance cheque to social-assistance cheque – and those who don’t.
Those who can afford to transition off home heating oil have already done so, because doing so saves $1,000 or more per year in energy costs. Those who haven’t done so simply couldn’t afford the upfront $15,000 or more it costs to buy and install a heat pump.
There is of course a more fundamental question: Does carbon pricing even work? Yes, it’s true that 80% of households benefit financially from carbon pricing, thanks to the federal rebate. And yes, that suggests the tax could hardly be effective at curtailing their carbon consumption.
But it’s also true that the top 20% of households consume far more than their share of carbon – to say nothing of corporations. That’s why the government estimates that the carbon tax will account for a third of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emission by 2030.
Plus it’s worth remembering that we aren’t even supposed to like the carbon tax: It’s a sin tax, for god’s stake. It’s no different than the tax levied on cigarettes or alcohol.
If you’ve never been addicted to either, you probably resent the comparison. But fossil fuels are perhaps as bad for your health – and certainly worse for the environment.