Thread by @pmboothe

My neighbours are reading about carbon taxes in the news and are wondering what its all about. Here is my handy Q+A to help them. Feel free to use it too. @EcofiscalCanada

Q1. Is climate change a real thing?
Yup - Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is increasing because the global population is growing and, on average, we are all doing more things that emit CO2... /2

...Global temperatures are rising and the link between increased CO2 and rising temperatures is well documented. scientists say that if we don’t reduce our CO2 emissions drastically soon, we will see increased extreme weather, flooding, and drought. ow.ly/UBii30mciAm /3

2. Do carbon taxes actually work to reduce CO2 emissions?
Yup again. Raise the price of just about anything and you consume less of it. BC’s carbon tax experience shows that this basic economic fact is true for CO2 emissions like everything else. ow.ly/JCun30mciDb /4

3. Are carbon taxes a tax grab?
It’s up to us. If politicians reduce other taxes like income taxes by the same amount of money (like the BC Liberal government did), then no. If politicians decide to spend the money on things we don’t want, then yes. ecofiscal.ca/choosewisely /5

4. Will carbon taxes wreck the economy?
Not if we are sensible about how we implement them. But we need to a) not waste the money we collect (cutting other taxes would be a good example of not wasting it), and... /6

...b) make allowances for businesses that need time to adjust or are competing with firms in other countries that aren’t facing carbon taxes. ow.ly/BHO630mcj2l /7

5. Are there other ways to reduce emissions?
Sure. For example, we could use regulations on companies with large emissions. However, using regulations to meet the targets will cost our economy more (and probably a lot more). ow.ly/6O6a30mcjkX /8

6. What if we do nothing?
If the whole world does nothing, then we will face all the effects of climate change. Adapting to the extreme weather events and flooding will cost us a lot... /9

...Plus, the world will be an increasingly dangerous and miserable place for our children and grandchildren.
If we leave it other countries to take action, we can expect that the ones that do will become increasingly unwilling to do business with us. ow.ly/QSoJ30mciUW /10

7. Aren’t we too small a country to make a difference?
If Canada were the only country to take action, we would be too small for sure... /11

....However, we are talking about joining a growing international effort to address this problem. Countries in Europe are doing their bit. China is taking this on. California (whose economy is larger than Canada’s) is a leader. ow.ly/Br4b30mcj4v ... /12

...For Canada to sit on the sidelines while other countries tackle global problems is pretty unusual. ow.ly/pAql30mcj6w /13

8. How big will carbon taxes have to be to meet our targets?
In December 2015, countries agreed to work together to fight climate change. Canada promised to cut its emissions by 30% by 2030 relative to levels in 2005... /14

...To meet our 2030 target, carbon taxes might have to rise as high as $150 per tonne of CO2 by 2030 (the exact amount depends on a lot of things we can’t know in advance)... /15

...Putting this in perspective, this means the price of gasoline will rise by about 35 cents per litre by 2030. In other words, gas prices will have to rise, on average, by about 3 cents per year between now and 2030. ow.ly/Fakl30mcjss /16

9. So if carbon taxes would only raise gas prices about 3 cents per year and gov'ts could cut other taxes to give us the money back, what is all the fuss about?
Hey, I’m an economist, not a politician. All I know is that climate change is a big and growing problem... /17

...We know what we need to do and how to do it. We know the impacts of the actions we take can be quite manageable for Canadian families.
ecofiscal.ca/fairness /18

10. While we are at it, do you have any advice about the stock market?
Nope, but I can tell you about a great new local beer I tried recently.