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

[Anonymous]

We have the worst elected government I have ever seen since we came to Canada. I'm so thankful Nothead has ended our long nightmare of low taxes, low fuel/energy costs, zero net debt and good jobs is finally over.  :001_rolleyes:

we will be told over and over that Ontario has managed to close its five coal-fired generating stations, so Alberta should be able to, too.



But there are a few things about the Ontario experiment that you likely won't hear, at least not from the New Democrats.



For one thing, since Ontario began to close down its coal plants, electricity rates in the province have risen 88%. Over the same period, Alberta's rates have risen just 16%.



Another thing you're unlikely to hear from our eco-obsessed provincial government is that this huge spike in power rates is as responsible as anything for the exodus of hundreds of thousands of well-paying manufacturing jobs in Ontario.



The Ontario Liberals, who have governed the province since 2003, and the new federal Liberal government, will claim it was the free-market, lower-tax, less-government policies of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper that forced cereal and locomotive makers, auto parts and pharmaceutical companies, even ketchup producers to leave.



But it is no coincidence that the 30% shrinkage of Ontario's manufacturing sector – at least 300,000 jobs – corresponds directly with the Ontario Liberals' time in office.



It is also no coincidence that the job drain has accelerated since Ontario's electricity costs have skyrocketed. Power is one of the biggest costs of manufacturing and there are plenty of cheaper-power jurisdictions just south of the border.



When Ontario announced its coal-free goal, the Alberta-based enviro think-tank, the Pembina Institute predicted, the shift "will not dramatically increase the price of electricity."



Albertans will be told the same thing by the NDP, by left-wing economists and environmentalists. But it's simply not true.



Not only have Ontario power rates nearly doubled (with another 10% increase coming Jan. 1), Ontario taxpayers have had to contribute another $18 billion in subsidies for wind, solar and biofuels.



Here's another fact that ensures Alberta's conversion will be, um, rocky: Ontario never relied on coal for more than a quarter of its electricity. In Alberta, it is 55%. When we discover, as Ontario did, that solar and wind can't replace coal, we won't have their nuclear or hydro to fall back on.



Adding this "green" crusade to the NDP's higher personal and corporate taxes, higher fuel costs for farmers and their likely upcoming increases to royalties and enviro regs, plus pipeline rejections and continued low old prices, the Notley government seems intent on making Alberta a have-not province, as the Liberals have done to Ontario.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/21/alberta-copies-have-not-ontario-on-energy">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/21/a ... -on-energy">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/21/alberta-copies-have-not-ontario-on-energy

[Anonymous]

Just to give you an idea of how utterly futile this new cash grab by Nothead is to changing climate one way or another.

For instance, for nearly 30 years now, the public has been told that manmade carbon dioxide is causing too much solar radiation to be trapped near Earth's surface and this, in turn, is going to cause apocalyptic warming.



So what percentage of our atmosphere is CO2 and what percentage of that amount is generated by human activity?



Nitrogen is 78 per cent of Earth's atmosphere, oxygen is 21 per cent and carbon is 0.04 per cent – four one-hundredths of a percent.



Tiny amounts can still have huge consequences, but what percentage of 0.04 percent is natural and what is manmade?



At the very least, 94 per cent of atmospheric CO2 comes from natural sources, such as plant decay, decomposing carcasses, oceans and volcanoes. Meanwhile, at most six per cent is from human sources such as car and power plant emissions.



So just two one-thousandths of a per cent of our atmosphere is manmade CO2. That means all human-generated CO2 worldwide is the equivalent of a single can of cola out of a truckload of 50,000 cans.



And what is Canada's contribution to manmade CO2?



It's just two per cent of total human emissions, or barely enough to cover the bottom of that single can.



Justin Trudeau and his Liberals are out to cut that amount by about 35 per cent (literally, a few drops in the can), as if that would make any difference to the climate 100 years from. What it might make some real difference to is Canadians' taxes and incomes right now.



Solar scientists disagree with climate scientists. They believe the earth is about to enter a cooling period as solar activity slows dramatically. Temperatures a decade from now could be the coldest in 300 years.



But you don't hear much about that from activists, reporters and politicians – you won't hear a word about it at the UN climate conference in Paris at the end of the month – because that doesn't concur with the "greens" pre-set beliefs.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/20/gunter-climate-alarmism-will-hurt-your-pocketbook">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/20/g ... pocketbook">http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/11/20/gunter-climate-alarmism-will-hurt-your-pocketbook

[the shark hunter]

... yes so-called "climate change" is just a blanket term for the implementation of taxes against industry.  very easy to see through as a scam.  and they better get those taxes in FAST 'cause we're on to them!

[Anonymous]

... yes so-called "climate change" is just a blanket term for the implementation of taxes against industry.  very easy to see through as a scam.  and they better get those taxes in FAST 'cause we're on to them!

Carbon taxes and cap and trade are fucking bullshit. Not that Canada could ever change the fucking climate anyway.

[RW]

Carbon tax is such a load of shit.  Get on the horn and ask these fuckers what it is going towards.

[Anonymous]

I urge any Albertan who may read this to sign the petition and tell your friends/family/colleagues to do the same.



STOP THE NDP'S NEW TAX ON EVERYTHING



The NDP Carbon Tax will cost every Alberta family more money every day.



 



The newly announced carbon tax will negatively impact every part of Alberta's economy.  During a time of economic turmoil and massive job losses, the NDP's new plan will only make things worse. The new carbon tax will raise the price of everything for Alberta families.



KEY FACTS:

•The carbon tax will raise the cost of heating your home by $230/year in the average household.

•A typical 2-car household will pay an extra $365/year in gasoline with the new carbon tax.

•The carbon tax will also raise everyone's power bills dramatically.

•The NDP's new carbon tax will raise the price of almost all goods and services produced in Alberta.

•The tax is not revenue neutral, meaning it simply makes the average Albertan poorer.

•This is a massive new  $3 billion tax on Albertans.

•The tax will mean Albertans will pay an extra 7 cents per litre at the pumps over and above the 4 cent increase to fuel already in the provincial budget.

http://www.taxoneverything.ca/">http://www.taxoneverything.ca/

[the shark hunter]

... what a laugh, telling freezing cold albertans that global WARMING is an issue of any kind ...



... the news media sure is beholden to this notley woman.  but she's no different from the rest of 'em ...

[Anonymous]

... what a laugh, telling freezing cold albertans that global WARMING is an issue of any kind ...



... the news media sure is beholden to this notley woman.  but she's no different from the rest of 'em ...

Yes, she is. She's the worst elected leader I have ever seen since we came to Canada. The problem is that she is determined to do so much damage in her 4 years as premier that the new government that WILL replace her in 2019 will have to spend the first term undoing all her damage.

[the shark hunter]

... what a laugh, telling freezing cold albertans that global WARMING is an issue of any kind ...



... the news media sure is beholden to this notley woman.  but she's no different from the rest of 'em ...

Yes, she is. She's the worst elected leader I have ever seen since we came to Canada.

... oh she was elected?  how nice for albertans.  our nazi actually LOST the vote in her riding but became premier anyway.  that was term two.  for term one she wasn't even AN ELECTED MLA!  she was simply APPOINTED by the party!

[Anonymous]

... what a laugh, telling freezing cold albertans that global WARMING is an issue of any kind ...



... the news media sure is beholden to this notley woman.  but she's no different from the rest of 'em ...

Yes, she is. She's the worst elected leader I have ever seen since we came to Canada.

... oh she was elected?  how nice for albertans.  our nazi actually LOST the vote in her riding but became premier anyway.  that was term two.  for term one she wasn't even AN ELECTED MLA!  she was simply APPOINTED by the party!

There is a movement in Alberta to have Nothead's inept government recalled. About 60 percent of Albertans did not vote for her destructive policies. She has no mandate to bring in this PST disguised as something for our own good. She is a fucking twat.

[the shark hunter]

... but Shen, what could possibly be the impetus for your government's sudden need to implement this tax?  why do they need so much money all of a sudden?  has there been a crash in any specific industry in alberta that has caused their tax revenues to dry up?

[Anonymous]

... but Shen, what could possibly be the impetus for your government's sudden need to implement this tax?  why do they need so much money all of a sudden?  has there been a crash in any specific ndustry in alberta that have caused their tax revenues to dry up?

The collapse of oil prices has left this big spending government with less cash to buy off their snivel service union bosses who got them elected. The normal thing to do in a recession is to cut/control spending and NEVER raise taxes. She has done everything ass backwards to inflict maximum pain and damage to Albertans and our economy.



I should add this government is made up largely of social workers. My MLA is 20 years old and never had a job before. There isn't one fucking person in her government with oilpatch experience. That is like the government of Newfoundland not having a single person who has ever stepped foot on a boat. In 4 years there will be an increase in the number of applicants at Starbucks when we kick these destructive inept, socialist assholes to the fucking curb.

[the shark hunter]

... but Shen, what could possibly be the impetus for your government's sudden need to implement this tax?  why do they need so much money all of a sudden?  has there been a crash in any specific ndustry in alberta that have caused their tax revenues to dry up?

The collapse of oil prices has left this big spending government with less cash to buy off their snivel service union bosses who got them elected. The normal thing to do in a recession is to cut/control spending and NEVER raise taxes. She has done everything ass backwards to inflict maximum pain and damage to Albertans and our economy.



I should add this government is made up largely of social workers. My MLA is 20 years old and never had a job before. There isn't one fucking person in her government with oilpatch experience. That is like the government of Newfoundland not having a single person who has ever stepped foot on a boat. In 4 years there will be an increase in the number of applicants at Starbucks when we kick these destructive inept, socialist assholes to the fucking curb.

... awesome post, Shen Li!  

[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.