I appreciate the letter from Brendan Ladner (Pique, Nov. 17: “How should we pay for climate change?”). There are few issues as polarizing as climate change.
His research on the cost of climate change is shocking, and somebody does need to pay for it.
Here is a different take. Canada’s share of world emissions decreased from 1.8 per cent in 2005 to 1.5 per cent in 2020.
The carbon tax the way it is does nothing to fight climate change. It simply fills the government coffers to be spent on other things while punishing Canadians. People can’t afford to heat their home, drive to work and buy groceries. The cost of living is a crisis.
Are there better ways? Here are a few:
• There was a business case to sell natural gas to Germany last year. It would have helped them cut coal dependency.
• Tax our large industries that cause the most emissions.
• Export natural gas and our proven technology to reduce emissions to India, China and other countries dependant on coal.
If we want to make a dent in the rising emissions in our world, helping poorer countries seems like the only option.
This government has failed so far—betting on the next one makes more sense than where we are now.
