Letters: Ignoring price tag of climate change will cost us all more

Readers offer their opinions on the carbon tax increase and the cost of ignoring climate change and misinformation about carbon pricing.

Published Apr 09, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 2 minute read

A forest fire responsible for razing tens of thousands of acres burns between Buffalo Narrows and île-à-la-Crosse In northern Saskatchewan in May of 2023. Photo by Submitted by the Saskatchewan Pu /sas

Why are people whining about a measly three-cent-a-litre increase in the price of gasoline? Is this really going to break the bank for anyone? Or get anyone to pollute less? The whole point of a carbon tax is to induce people to burn less of the CO2-spewing fuels that are endangering our future.

Currently, the carbon tax is much too low for this. Various economic studies have estimated that consumption habits will change only at a price of $500/tonne of emitted CO2. Right now in Canada we’re at $85/tonne.

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People like to ignore the hard fact that the cost of carbon pollution is real and growing. Private disaster insurance payouts in Canada have increased from under $500 million per year before 2008 to nearly $2 billion now.

And of the $8 billion in taxpayer-funded disaster relief paid out since 1970, $6 billion was in the last 10 years. Insurance companies do not play politics; they go by the facts. They are charging higher premiums, and reducing what and where they cover.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada bluntly said last September: “Insurance is going to get more difficult for people to obtain.” Disasters do not hit everyone equally, but the cost of recovering from them will be equalized regardless of your politics.

Politicians like Scott Moe and Pierre Poilievre need to get honest and admit that taxpayers can either pay an ounce of prevention now — or pay a pound of repair later. Which one do YOU want?

Roger Schmitz, Saskatoon

Conservatives fool many with carbon tax claim

Conservatives have fooled much of the public into believing that the carbon tax costs them a lot of money and doesn’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.

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The carbon tax encourages people to save money by reducing their emissions, but the rebate prevents most people from being penalized if they don’t reduce their emissions.

According to the federal government and the independent parliamentary budget officer, eight out of 10 people receive rebates greater than what they paid. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, greenhouse gas emissions would have been 18 million tonnes higher without the carbon tax.

According to the Canadian Climate Institute, the carbon tax will reduce emissions between 72 million tonnes to 112 million tonnes by 2030.

The severity and frequency of natural disasters is increasing. The carbon tax helps to protect the environment and results in more money for most people.

If people want to complain about a federal tax, they should complain about the GST, which taxes the richest and the poorest at the same rate for each purchase.

Ashu Solo, Saskatoon

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