Nothead's Carbon Tax Will Cost Us $600/Year And Not Affect Climate At All

[Anonymous]

The kicking of Albertans while they are down continues. This tax will have zero impact on climate even if you do believe only man is responsible for any changes(small or big) in climate. It is not revenue neutral like BC's is. She also has no mandate to do this(or much else since over 59% of Albertans did not vote for her party). This is nothing more than backdoor provincial sales tax using the lie that it is for the fucking planet.

Before we get into the New Dems' horrendous, damaging, expensive, impossible Climate Leadership Plan, let's talk about the absolutely cowardly way Premier Rachel Notley and her party chose to announce it.



On a Sunday afternoon.



During the CFL's Western Final between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Calgary Stampeders.



Notley insisted the timing was dictated by her need to fly off for meetings with new Liberal PM Justin Trudeau and the other premiers in Ottawa. She was not trying to sneak the report past the public.



Then why not release the plan —to introduce a huge new carbon tax — last Friday?



The cynicism would have made the Redford Tories balk.



I don't know which is worse, the addition of $600 a year in new "green" taxes on the average Alberta family or the New Democrats' snickering belief that voters are stupid enough to believe that story.



There is so much in the Notley plan that is ridiculous and disgraceful. Let's start with the claim the $3 billion in new taxes on gasoline and home heating will be revenue neutral.



To be revenue neutral, every dollar a new tax raises must correspond to a dollar that is lowered in an existing tax. If a government is bringing in $50 billion a year in revenues before the new tax, it must still be bringing in just $50 billion after.



But there will be no reductions in existing taxes under this plan, just $3 billion in extra taxes for the NDP to spend.



It is the NDP's contention that this constitutes "revenue neutrality" because the $3 billion raised will be reinvested in Alberta. But by that definition, every tax dollar is neutral.



The $3 billion will go to carbon-tax rebates for the lowest 60 per cent of income earners. It will go to clean energy research and "green" infrastructure projects the government chooses. It will go to programs the government thinks will help residents reduce energy use. It will go into an "adjustment fund" for small businesses and into government payments to First Nations and government cheques for coal workers who lose their jobs.



In other words, the $3 billion will go into a complex set of government spending priorities designed to mitigate all the damage the government's own climate plan will do. Far better to just leave all the money in Albertans' pockets in the first place.



When all that compensating and rebating is done, not much will be left for reducing carbon emissions.



The other outrage is that all this pain will achieve very little.



We are going to follow Ontario down the wind-turbine path. We are going to shut down 18 coal-fired power plants that generate 55 per cent of our electricity. To replace that much electricity, we will have to erect thousands upon thousands of tall, ugly, expensive, landscape-destroying, bird-chopping wind turbines everywhere in rural Alberta.



Everywhere.



Landowners won't want the turbines. County and municipal councils will resist their construction. So the Notley government will likely have to do what the Ontario Liberals did – change the law so property owners and local governments have little right to resist. Whether or not they want them, they will be forced to accept the turbines.



The damage to due process and property rights will make the former Alberta Tory government's attempts to force transmission lines through rural Alberta look lame.



And when all is said and done, it's unlikely wind can replace coal. So the NDP plan relies on all Albertans dramatically changing their lifestyles to make up for the lost power.



Added to all the taxes, regulations, minimum-wage hikes, royalty increases and other NDP initiatives, the Climate Leadership Plan will postpone Alberta's economic recovery for years.



http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/23/ndp-cant-sneak-climate-plan-past-alberta-voters">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/23/n ... rta-voters">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/23/ndp-cant-sneak-climate-plan-past-alberta-voters

Our energy costs have soared under Ontario's corrupt, failed green energy scams. I feel for the people of Alberta if this is the road she is taking you down. I just hope that you are dumb like we are and keep reelecting a job killing government.

[Anonymous]

This is just a tax grab and despite that human bloodclot Nothead's lies it is NOT revenue neutral. If it were revenue neutral, it would mean cutting personal and corporate taxes, not raising both while layering a new tax grab on top of it. It doesn't guarantee a slowing down in climate change, but it does guarantee we Albertans will pay more taxes.



Alberta has to compete for investment with places like Saskatchewan, Alaska, North Dakota,  and Texas, none of which are seriously considering a carbon tax. This is going to be a long 3 and a half years until we kick this useless twat to the fucking curb.