From: brewnoserii@gmail.com   
      
   Special to The Vancouver Sun January 18, 2016   
      
   Mario Canseco: What Gordon Campbell did and what Rachel Notley cannot   
      
      
   When B.C. first introduced a carbon tax in 2008, very few people would have   
   predicted that Alberta would follow suit less than a decade later.  Alberta   
   still has a year left to explain the tax and its implications to a skeptical   
   population.  This period    
   provides a chance to analyze some of the differences in the way the two   
   jurisdictions decided to push the policy forward.   
      
   In 2008, in a survey conducted just days before the carbon tax was implemented   
   in B.C., opposition to the policy reached 49 per cent.  However, 60 per cent   
   of British Columbians were convinced that global warming "is real" and 53 per   
   cent thought putting    
   a price on greenhouse gas emissions was a good idea.  The hearts and minds of   
   British Columbians were "in it", but the idea was still controversial.   
      
   While there was still plenty of confusion about the carbon tax and its reach,   
   the B.C. Liberal government handled its rollout flawlessly.  The television   
   campaign to "sell" the tax to British Columbians featured majestic images, as   
   well as a direct call    
   to action for residents.  Every British Columbian received a cheque for $100   
   (the so-called "climate action dividend") to help make their home more   
   environmentally friendly.   
      
   After the carbon tax was implemented in B.C., the opposition NDP essentially   
   urged the government to deal with the largest greenhouse gas emitters first.    
   The proposal carried some weight in the early stages, but seemed to fizzle out   
   as British    
   Columbians got used to higher fuel prices.  The carbon tax had little effect   
   on the 2009 provincial election.   
      
   It is important to note that all of the positive campaign elements that   
   accompanied the implementation of the carbon tax in B.C. -- shared concern   
   about the future, enticement to act, and financial aid -- were absent from the   
   same government's push for a    
   harmonized sales tax (HST) just a year later.  It was not a surprise to see   
   that particular policy end badly.   
      
   Alberta   
      
   Now, it is Alberta -- the one region of Canada where the largest proportion of   
   residents is worried about the economy and jobs -- where a carbon tax is being   
   discussed.  At first glance, opposition to the tax is similar to the level   
   that was observed in    
   B.C. (50 per cent, in the latest Insights West poll).  Still, there is one key   
   difference: While a majority of British Columbians favoured putting a price on   
   greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 (53 per cent), significantly fewer Albertans   
   feel that way in    
   2015 (38 per cent).   
      
   Not surprisingly, most of the Albertans who endorse the government's course of   
   action voted for the NDP or the Liberal Party in the last provincial   
   election.  In B.C., the carbon tax was enticing not just to the governing   
   Liberals, but to supporters of    
   centre-left parties as well.   
      
   B.C.'s provincial government has recently been courting environmentally   
   concerned voters, a completely understandable course of action after seeing   
   the federal Conservative Party lose 149,075 votes from 2011 to 2015.     
      
   The statement on the future of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline may   
   make some of these voters take a second look at what the governing party is   
   offering.   
      
   New taxes rarely get a thumbs-up from more than 40 per cent of citizens.  The   
   Alberta carbon tax is no exception.  Still, exactly a year ago, 78 per cent of   
   Albertans rejected the notion of a provincial sales tax.  The concept was   
   floated during the    
   short-lived tenure of Premier Jim Prentice as a way to help the government.  A   
   carbon tax supported by 36 per cent of residents is nowhere near that level of   
   condemnation.   
      
   One issue that has caused concern for Albertans revolves around the definition   
   of the carbon tax as "revenue neutral".  In B.C., other tax breaks -- as well   
   as the dividend cheque -- were meant to offset the cost of the policy.     
      
   Alberta did not offer any specific tax relief, choosing to put revenues back   
   into provincial services (like health care or education).  It also did not   
   consider a province-wide, personal dividend cheque, opting instead for a   
   rebate that around 60 per    
   cent of Albertans will be eligible for.   
      
   The road ahead will be difficult for Alberta's government.  While British   
   Columbians believed in the benefits of the carbon tax -- even if they   
   originally expressed dissatisfaction with having to pay for it -- Albertans   
   are unconvinced, with 50 per cent    
   doubting an eventual embrace of renewable energies.  This is ultimately an   
   aspirational goal that will have to be measured years down the road.   
      
   Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is dealing with a province where only   
   three-in-10 centre-right voters believe global warming "is a fact and is   
   mostly caused by emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities."   
      
   Former B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell never had a problem selling a "greener"   
   future beyond his constituency.   
   _____________________________________________   
      
   http://img.picturequotes.com/2/234/233094/climate-deniers-are-cl   
   arly-the-fringe-group-and-need-to-see-a-proctologist-to-find-the   
   r-heads-quote-1.jpg   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)