Angry in the Great White North

From Martha Hall Findlay, concerning my post in which I commented on her assertion that the effectiveness of a carbon tax like the one Stephane Dion is proposing cannot be predicted, nor even measured after the fact:

Assuming that you strive for accuracy, I have the following clarifications to make to one of your recent posts. You referred to comments on the Green Shift I made at an event, where I was discussing the impact of the Green Shift on the environment.

Adding a carbon tax to the burning of fossil fuels will, absolutely, have the effect of reducing emissions; I have never said otherwise. It has been demonstrated repeatedly, around the world, that adding to market forces is the most effective way to affect behaviour. Those of us old enough remember significant fuel-reduction behaviour due to the 1970s oil crisis.

There will be reductions in emissions from the Green Shift because we know that people will change their consumption patterns if polluting behaviours cost more. This is already occurring, to some extent, due to other factors in today’s market – namely rapidly increased oil prices. The Green Shift, by adding a price on the burning of other carbon dioxide emitters, – coal is a prime and very polluting example – will reduce emissions even more.

My point is that both increased market oil prices and the imposition of a price on the burning of other fossil fuels, when working together, will reduce green-house gas emissions even further. It will, however, be difficult to determine the exact proportions of the reduction attributable to each.

Reducing emissions, helping people deal with immediate energy costs through significant income tax cuts, and encouraging investment in green technology and renewable energy sources, all at the same time – it sure sounds pretty good to me.

Finally, a picky point perhaps, but for future reference, my last name is Hall Findlay, not just Findlay.

Thank you.

Martha Hall Findlay
Member of Parliament / Députée
Willowdale
Associate Finance Critic / porte-parole associée en matière de finances

I've turned off comments for this particular post because I felt generous and thought Ms Hall Findlay deserved to have some bandwidth to make her point.  Of course, other bloggers can link to this post and host discussions on her position as they see fit.

Comments: For anyone who wants to have a discussion on this, let's have the the official discussion over at the Alberta Ardvark.  I'm going to leave comments off on this one.