On June 30, the day before B.C.’s carbon tax increased to $25 per tonne ($0.06 per litre of gas), the Pembina Institute issued a press release headlined “British Columbians support the carbon tax: poll.”
But that’s an overstatement of the poll’s findings.
Asked if they thought the carbon tax and accompanying tax cuts for lower income British Columbians have been negative or positive, only 8% of respondents answered “very positive”; 25% answered “somewhat positive” ; 41% were neutral; 17% answered “somewhat negative”; and 10% answered “very negative.”
The tax will increase to $30 per tonne in 2012. Asked if they thought it should continue to rise by $5 per tonne each year afterward, 51% said no; only 29% said yes.
And that’s a problem for those advocating the use of the carbon tax to fund public transit. Given that 40% of greenhouse gas emissions come from cars, the argument makes some sense.
The problem is that the carbon tax is supposed to be revenue neutral, but is currently revenue negative.
The B.C. government is spending $162 million more on tax credits to offset the carbon tax for low-income families than it is taking in through the carbon tax. Even with a rise to $30 per tonne in 2012, Environment Minister Terry Lake said his government expects the tax will still only be revenue neutral.
Tapping the carbon tax to fund public transit initiatives would therefore mean the government will either need to hike the carbon tax above $30 per tonne or take the money from some other revenue source.