Why BC’s Carbon Tax Worked   
      
   Two shrewd components prevented a ‘Yellow Vest’ backlash here.   
      
      
   In 2008, the province implemented North America’s first broad-based carbon   
   tax, proving that it is possible to reduce emissions while growing the   
   economy. Between 2007 and 2015, provincial real GDP grew more than 17%, while   
   net emissions declined by 4.   
   7%.   
      
   https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2019/01/10/Relative-GHG-Emissions-GD   
   -Population-Size.jpg   
      
   These decreases occurred in spite of the fact the province saw slightly higher   
   annual economic growth than Canada as a whole in the years immediately   
   following the 2008 financial crisis as well as steady population growth.   
      
   It’s important to remember that even a revenue-neutral carbon tax can still   
   function as a tax increase for a significant emitter of CO2.  The government   
   hasn’t committed to making sure no one pays more in taxes.  Only that all   
   the money generated by    
   the tax gets returned to the public in one way or another.   
      
   Learn from BC   
      
   Under a revenue-neutral carbon tax program, those inclined to use cleaner   
   technologies can reduce their taxes considerably below what others in roughly   
   the same financial boat are paying.   
      
   A low-income person who decides to purchase a car instead of riding his bike   
   or using mass transit still gets to pocket the quarterly refund payments.     
                                                                      
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   But unlike his friends who choose cleaner alternative modes of transportation,   
   his refund payments will go entirely toward offsetting the additional cost of   
   gasoline instead of groceries, rent, or other necessities.   
      
   It’s difficult to imagine citizens from the French countryside invading   
   Paris to protest quarterly tax credits or reductions in their income taxes   
   intended to offset a 25¢ per gallon gasoline tax. Even if polls indicated   
   opposition to the new tax, as    
   they did initially in B.C., it’s hard to work yourself up into a lather   
   about it when the government can demonstrate that your overall tax burden   
   hasn’t really changed. And, in all likelihood, what was at first mild   
   opposition or ambivalence would    
   eventually become support once people began to realize the benefits.   
      
   The inescapable reality we now face is that whether we tax carbon or not, the   
   cost of emitting so much of it will only be going up from this point forward.   
   Whether it’s coastal buildings washing into the sea or houses built near the   
   edge of a forest    
   burning to the ground, there’s no avoiding climate change’s toll.   
      
   A carbon tax that disincentivizes the use of fossil fuels ultimately benefits   
   both the environment and people.   
      
   Hopefully, from now on national, regional, and local governments will learn   
   from British Columbia’s example as well as France’s mistakes.   
      
      
   https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2019/01/11/BC-Carbon-Tax-Success-Explained/   
      
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