Sask. to blame for carbon confusion

In response to Murray Mandryk’s carbon pricing column, rather than being secretive, the federal carbon pricing technical paper thoroughly outlines how emissions will be handled, what will be exempt, and allows for public input. They are still considering the best way to return revenues to the Saskatchewan economy.

Revenues from a carbon tax are not the same thing as the cost to residents, businesses and government. While questions around costs are legitimate, true cost cannot be determined when we do not know specifically how revenues will be recycled. If a pricing scheme were to raise $2.5 billion in revenues, a $2,171 cheque could be sent to every person in the province, taxes could be reduced by 36 per cent across the board, or $1.2 billion could be put toward the provincial deficit and cuts made in the recent provincial budget reversed.

Thus it is impossible for Ottawa to determine true costs until it allows time for public feedback.

There is only one reason why Saskatchewan is facing the unknown: our government has failed to design its own carbon pricing plan, or a plan that would achieve equivalent reductions. We are the only province in Canada not to do so.

Any approach we take to reduce emissions will cost us, but not acting on climate change will cost us more. Canada’s National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy estimates climate change costs for Canada will escalate to between

$21 billion and $43 billion, every year, by 2050. Hayley Carlson

Policy co-ordinator, Saskatchewan Environmental Society