Quote:
Originally Posted by spotthefan
“First of all, it’s time that these companies absorbed some of the cost of their pollution. I think most people agree with that. Naturally, the big companies like Exxon, big global corporations, are going to try to scare Canadians – to say, ‘If you try to do anything about pollution, we’re going to make you pay.’ That’s exactly what they said when we dealt with the issue of acid rain and sulphur emissions.”
I don't disagree with this comment at all. However, the conundrum is how do we ensure that we won't "pay" for it. This is a big issue. Oil companies still have record profits, yet are up in arms when royalties are raised by the provincial government.
Personally, like any other natural resource, Ottawa's place is not in the revenue of oil. That should be left to the provinces. However, saying that, Ottawa should be the ones that mandate environmental policies to ensure that "big corporations" are not blackmailing provinces, and politicians in provinces are not benefitting from doing nothing.
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That's kinda the point I'm making. If you want to reduce green house gas emissions you have to reduce demand. The only way to do that in a market economy is to increase the price. You cannot avoid 'paying for it.' There isn't a free lunch!
There's isn't an anti-reality fairy choice in the election here! There simply isn't an option to lower green house gas emissions and then pull up to the gas pumps in your SUV and pay 0.80 cents a litre on demand.
Also if you look at oil and gas companies here in Canada, most invest 100% or more of their money back into their businesses. The capital spend is what creates jobs both directly and indirectly, so attacking them with carbon pricing and then regulating pricing takes away what they have to reinvest into the business and hurts the economy and it will attack you on the revenue side of things (Ie Canadians will make less money). There isn't a way to make the emissions disappear with zero consequence for the Canadian people.