Is the earth flat? Is climate change real? Did Moses use a saddle when riding dinosaurs or did he not? I regularly see my Uncle Ricky at holiday dinners, and some of these topics are in his repertoire (especially after a few drinks). Uncle Ricky doesn't really read much, but he does log into Facebook once in a while for his news. He votes too.
Uncle Ricky really likes summer time. When it gets hot out, he unbuttons his shirt a bit and you can see his super hairy chest. But he really doesn't like the wildfire smoke. He likes to drive around with his windows down, but the smoke kinda ruins this for him. I asked Ricky what he thinks about climate change and he started to complain about the carbon tax. Experts say the smoke is only going to get worse, but I don't think Ricky knows this (it didn't show up in his Facebook feed).
I feel it's my duty as a voting citizen to be informed on important topics, so I've done some basic reading on climate change. I'd love to see Ricky do the same, but he says he's too busy. I'm skeptical about that.
For starters, I’d like him to learn that Canada is already a world leader on climate change action. It's actually really great news. We're really on it and have one of the best solutions in the world.
We have implemented what is called a "carbon fee and dividend system". This is what Uncle Ricky calls the carbon tax (I don't think he knows about the dividend part). The carbon tax places a fee on carbon emissions, and the revenue generated is returned to households as a dividend. Essentially all economists overwhelmingly support a carbon tax and dividend system because it’s the most efficient way to reduce emissions and combined with the dividend component ensures fairness, helping families afford the transition to a greener economy. By putting a price on carbon, we let the market drive change (instead of having the government pick and choose winners). Companies and consumers are incentivized to adopt cleaner technologies, reducing emissions faster than complex regulations or subsidies. Nice work Canada!
What makes the carbon tax and dividend superior to alternatives like cap-and-trade or strict regulations is its simplicity and effectiveness. It avoids bureaucracy, provides certainty for businesses, and garners bipartisan support. As the news breaks of extreme floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, heatwaves, future wars over clean water and mass migrations of climate refugees, we can take some comfort that we're kinda on top of this.
Just last night I had a dream. I was at a big family dinner, and Uncle Ricky (a bit drunk) was passionately talking about the 1987 Montreal Protocol and how we successfully banned CFCs and saved the ozone layer. He then said climate change is the same shit and for our children's sake, we should probably be raising the price on carbon faster than we are.
Uncle Ricky, what a guy.
Travis Smith
Cochrane, AB
