British Columbia Introduces Ground-Breaking Carbon Tax

British Columbia leads Canada and the world with new carbon tax Filing the Carbon Tax Act of 2008 this week with the provincial parliament, British Columbia Finance Minister Carole Taylor declared:

“Bill 37 introduces a ground-breaking, revenue-neutral carbon tax that will encourage all British Columbian families and businesses to lower their carbon footprint.”

The new tax, set to take effect on July 1^st, will adopt a revenue neutral, phased-in approach, initially imposing a surcharge of $10 per metric tonne of CO² emissions, translating to about 2.5 cents per liter of gasoline, ramping up to 7.25 cents by 2012.

Since the tax is revenue neutral the idea is that of a “tax shift”. Revenue generated from the tax will be returned to tax payers through reductions in other taxes, helping to encourage individuals and businesses to lower their carbon footprint.

The tax will help the province meet the goal of reducing carbon emissions 33% by 2020.

With the new carbon tax British Columbia is “not just leading Canada, but the world, on this issue”, says Minister Taylor,

“We have looked everywhere to find another carbon tax that is as broad-based ... we can't find any other model in the world that is so comprehensive.”

Oh, Canada!

Sources and Further Reading
Grist: here and here
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The Canadian Press