Maintaining SuperNatural BC for Our Children - CoalWatch Comox ...

24. In Defence of the Carbon TaxBy Shi-Ling HsuClimate experts from around the world have praised British Columbia’s carbontax. It is North America’s first such tax – and arguably the world’s cleanest andmost efficient carbon tax. Yet some British Columbians now call for repeal orrollback of this tax.Repeal or rollback would be a serious mistake. Climate change is not aproblem because we are sure that the world will be worse off. Climate changeis a problem because of the risk that changes to rainfall patterns, oceancurrents, and other climate indicators could be catastrophic. Infrastructureand governments are at risk. We are not talking about people doing without32-terabyte iPads. We are talking about future generations of North Americanslining up for food and water. The risk of this scenario is, as best we can tell,still small. But the risk is there and it is real.We insure ourselves against car accidents, fires, and even theft, in a mannerthat is far, far more prudent than the way we are treating the risk of climatechange. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by imposing a carbon tax is a farbetter insurance policy than anything that has ever been sold by an insuranceMaintaining SuperNatural BC: Selected Law Reform Proposals 111