Angry in the Great White North

The carbon tax in British Columbia is in trouble.  Why?  Because people can't afford to pay it.

Duh.

But perhaps talking about it will make the money magically appear.  That seems to be the reasoning advanced by the pro-carbon tax crowd:

Premier Gordon Campbell's special adviser on climate change says he fears critical and political pressure could prompt the Liberal government to back off the province's carbon tax.

Mark Jaccard, a noted resource economist at Simon Fraser University, made the comments in an interview yesterday shortly after he joined other academics at a news conference to argue for the tax linked to a 2.34-cent rise in gasoline prices on Canada Day. By 2012, the tax will be at seven cents a litre.

"I've seen politicians reverse themselves before after reading polls, so I want to see a good public discourse out there," Prof. Jaccard said. "I would say this is not a done deal at all."

He did not disclose any insider information on the government's intentions, but said he thinks a reversal can't be ruled out as a possibility.

So the solution is...more discussion?  I think the "discussion" is a big part of the problem, given that it involves yelling at people.

Hey, does Jaccard read the paper or watch the TV?  Global warming!  Global warming!  It's been nothing but global warming from the moment you wake up to when you go to sleep.

And yet, somehow, tomorrow always arrives.

But each day it gets harder and harder to make ends meet, and still the global warming panic mongers insist that things aren't expensive enough.

Maybe people in British Columbia realize that there is no end in sight.  The advocates for carbon taxation won't be satisfied until we can't afford to buy anything or go anywhere.  At least nothing more than people in the 9th century could.

Ah, for all I know, maybe the 9th century represents too much technological sophistication (with the associated environmental degradation) for the environmentalist crowd.  Just crank up the tax and turn the clock back.

Sound extreme?  Maybe, but then the environmentalists have been extreme from the get-go.  People are getting a sense of this, that the non-stop drumbeat of doom coming from environmentalists is getting increasingly shrill:

James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.

Hansen will use the symbolically charged 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking speech (pdf) to the US Congress - in which he was among the first to sound the alarm over the reality of global warming - to argue that radical steps need to be taken immediately if the "perfect storm" of irreversible climate change is not to become inevitable.

And again:

David Suzuki has called for political leaders to be thrown in jail for ignoring the science behind climate change.

At a Montreal conference last Thursday, the prominent scientist, broadcaster and Order of Canada recipient exhorted a packed house of 600 to hold politicians legally accountable for what he called an intergenerational crime. Though a spokesman said yesterday the call for imprisonment was not meant to be taken literally, Dr. Suzuki reportedly made similar remarks in an address at the University of Toronto last month.

If you saw Green Party leader Elizabeth May debating Warren Kinsella on TV two weeks ago, you would have been hard pressed to hear Kinsella say anything.  May spent most of the time screaming for the carbon tax while yelling "climate emergency" every time she paused for a breath.

Canadians who saw May, or have read about Hansen or Suzuki, must be wondering about what incredible power a tax must have, being able to prevent the Earth from falling into the sun or whatever.

And then they hear that if they have doubts, they're "deniers".  Criminals in all but name, just for lack of the right sort of law.

Jaccard says politicians must continue to talk about the carbon tax until Canadians believe it must be done, and at as high a rate as possible (or more).  Anyone who contradicts the droning of the carbon taxers can be hauled in front of tribunal and then thrown in jail, perhaps to be punished by being forced to "debate" Elizabeth May (an activity that involves sitting without saying a word while May yells "Climate emergency!" until the oxygen in the room is entirely consumed).

Soon Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion will be joining in, adding his own earnest, if entirely unintelligible, climate warming monologue, pushing for his federal carbon tax to be added to British Columbia's provincial carbon tax.

How will Canadians react?  The hint is that they've had enough of this.  Perhaps a feeling is growing that the Conservatives are doing more for the environment by pushing hard for China and India and other so-called developing to do their share, instead of spinning some nonsense that taxing everything that Canadians make, import, and buy is the key to keeping glaciers frozen.

Whatever. The grumbling grows:

Alberta and Saskatchewan lashed out at Stéphane Dion on Friday, warning their economies would take a major hit under the Liberal Leader's plan to tax carbon emissions.

Saskatchewan, which only recently started to cash in on the oil boom, is particularly hostile to Mr. Dion's proposal. “It's going to dramatically impact upon our economy and we're just not in favour of it in any way,” Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach attacked the Liberal plan at a news conference. “It's going to hurt Alberta,” he said, predicting the province could “take a major hit.”

“I'm also concerned about the rest of Canada, because this effect will flow from coast to coast.”

And grows:

Anger at soaring gas prices has supplanted fear about global warming as the No. 1 issue Canadians say is facing their country.

As the cost of filling the tank hits uncharted heights – and is predicted to go even higher – a wide-ranging survey conducted by the Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail and CTV suggests energy prices are on par with the sagging economy when it comes to Canadians' worries.

The environment, last year's top issue, has been pushed to No. 3, with just 16 per cent of Canadians surveyed saying they now consider it their primary concern.

This shift could make it more difficult for Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to sell the carbon-tax plan he unveiled last week, a complex scheme to cut greenhouse-gas emissions that will be the cornerstone of his party's platform in the next election.

Just 16% of Canadians think the environment is the most important thing.  That's one in six, and the number will drop as the summer wears on.

I guess that means that, going with Jaccard's advice, we can expect a long summer of near panic level wailing from the global warming crowd.

What happens if the hysterics don't work?  Well, maybe one of the mainstays of the climate change clique will offer us a unique interpretation on whether democracy ought to stand in the way of something as important as this.  It's only a matter of time.