B.C.'s carbon tax is frequently assaulted by the charge that it will kill jobs and cripple B.C.'s economy. That claim is challenged by a new report which suggests that carbon pricing will both create jobs and stimulate the economy.
"Job creation will be the hallmark of the clean energy revolution," writes Joseph Robertson, a Villanova University professor and climate activist who authored the report. "Studies show the potential for millions of new jobs in industries ranging from manufacturing to installation and maintenance, as well as administration, marketing, energy efficiency and other related fields."
Robertson's report, "Building a Green Economy: The Economics of Carbon Pricing & the Transition to Clean, Renewable Fuels," reviews previously published reports and case studies.
The survey, released by the Citizens' Climate Lobby, notes how both developed and less developed nations can benefit from carbon shift strategies:
When Germany shifted its tax-base from income to energy, it spurred a decade of aggressive public and private investment in renewable resources. In just four years, it became the world leader in clean energy export, taking 70% of the world market just eight years after the initial policy shift. ...
Morocco plans to use its desert and mountain terrain, as well as its wind-intensive coastal areas, to generate enough renewable energy to become an export leader for the European market. This model can be duplicated in mountainous, desert-rich and coastal states across the U.S.
Also among Robertson's conclusions:
Carbon pricing is an engine for major private investment. Germany's success in spurring private-sector investments through effective public policy has made it the world leader in exporting clean energy technology...
Regional disparities in carbon tax impact are minimal. The American Enterprise Institute has found that regional disparities in the economic impact —primarily energy costs— resulting from a carbon tax are "sufficiently small that one could argue that a carbon tax is distributionally neutral across regions."
Renewables will out-compete fossil fuels with policy shift. ...the potential for expansion of existing clean energy technologies is sufficient to cover energy needs if a sufficiently smart power grid is deployed to correct for localized fluctuations in wind flow or solar intensity. Putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions can steer investment to energy sources like wind and solar...
Monte Paulsen writes about carbon shift for The Tyee.
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Frank
1 year ago
Save the planet, tax the poor
Here's an idea of how to reduce global emissions.
Make everyone in the world pay a flat tax of $100 a month. If they don't pay it they get no access to anything. Not food, energy or clean water. Its not like $100 is a lot of money, right? That's like doing without an iced cappucino a day.
By my calculations we should reduce energy needs (and people) by roughly 60% in about 6 months.
The world will be saved and that way "green" people like us can feel better about ourselves, knowing that by taxing energy we all took the same hit.
Dr Alexander
1 year ago
What, we still yammering on about Climate Change?
That ship sank a long time ago.
Frank
1 year ago
Dr Alexander
Then it should be easy to prove that ships can't sail through the Northwest passage and won't be able to in the near future.
the real ODB
1 year ago
the real ODB
Frank, I know where you're coming from, but the fact of the matter is that probably more than half the people in the world don't make a $100.00 to begin with. And besides, why should they pay for our stupidity? Oh right, they already are!
G West
1 year ago
I notice
Even Campbell doesn't believe in the phony concept that a few cents a litre is going to help anyone except his friends.
I notice BC has now backed off on 2 cents per litre tax on aviation fuel...I guess being exempt the 'campbell tax' entirely wasn't enough of a gimme for that group of corporate 'friends'.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/fp/Airlines+laud+cuts+flight+taxes/3553488/story.html
realisticman
1 year ago
Cool Air
At last everyone is coming around to the understanding that the Axe the Tax campaign was indeed not only destructive to the planet but also a job killer (Who was it that started that joke?).
Gordon Campbell will go down in history as a great leader that instituted this innovative idea that is now being praised and emulated world-wide.
Good to see the usual gang of naysayers also now praising this magnificent concept.
I must say though that Frank's idea is a wee bit harsh for those families who might, through perhaps no fault of their own, find themselves a bit short of cash due to some extraordinary and tragic circumstance. In those instances, I strongly believe, we should keep our fingers crossed for the planet and allow those less flush families the opportunity to defer their payments through equity swaps until lady luck shines down again upon them.
Call me. We're a non-profit. Honest!: www.equityswaps.org
G West
1 year ago
Not at all
Axeing phony bullshit taxes which are really just money laundries for the CEO's friends is never a bad idea.
Gordon Campbell will undoubtedly go down in history as the worst premier this province has ever known.
In fact, he makes Amor de Cosmos look like a genius...and William Vanderzalm look like an honest man.
The only good tax is a tax on incomes - and it should have very high marginal rates and few or no loopholes.
Make the thieves pay for their larceny...as Balzac put it...
"Behind every great fortune is a crime."
Frank
1 year ago
the real ODB
I think you already know but just to be sure, I was feeling a bit sarcastic when I wrote that.
seth
1 year ago
looney greenies
" the potential for expansion of existing clean energy technologies is sufficient to cover energy needs if a sufficiently smart power grid is deployed to correct for localized fluctuations in wind flow or solar intensity."
Not unless clean energy includes nuclear.
A look at balancing wind solar and biomass to power all of Australian was found to be impossibly expensive, utterly impractical, and an order of magnitude more costly than nuclear.
http://bravenewclimate.com/2010/08/12/zca2020-critique/