What will Kyoto cost? Licia Corbella has an article today, We Want Free Kyoto, that looks at some of those questions. It notes that 64% of Canadians believe that Canada should live up to it's Kyoto obligation. But, 71% would not be willing to pay 25c a litre tax on gas to make that happen.
25c? Who came up with this fictional little number? Want Kyoto? then think $2.00 a litre for gasoline, think double the price of electricity, especially in Ontario and Alberta where the electrical companies are more dependant on dirty coal. Oh, and look to spend $30,000 upgrading your home to meet the new standards required.
And it's starting already.David Miller wants to charge a usage tax on garbage, the Tories just added a gas guzzler tax to the federal budget, Elizabeth May and Stephane Dion talk about a carbon tax. That's just the beginning. Others want to tell us, people who are gaining voice and influence, how far and when we can drive, what kind of houses we live in, how big our yards should be. They want a world where we live in small small houses or (better yet apartments) and play at parks, take transit to work, and they are prepared to force us to do it. Those voices are gaining credibility, and if left unchecked will decide for the populace how and where and why we should live. The National Post has been documenting the complaint against suburbia for the past week, including an editorial today.
Those who would restrict our basic freedoms in the name of the environment are coming, are in fact here. and if you find 25c litre tax unpalatable, look out, that's not even their starting point. Banning big vehicles, even as an ageing populations older joints wait longer for surgery and a carbon tax in the neighbourhood of 85c a litre is their starting point.
And where will it end. God knows! That's what you have to worry about, and that's something you should consider before telling a pollster that you are in favour of meeting our Kyoto commitments.
