Nobody likes being broke.
It can be stressful, and it can be scary even.
But if anyone thinks the solution to the high cost of living right now is to get rid of the carbon tax, they're missing the forest for the trees.
Sure, reducing what you pay at the pump might seem like a simple solution, but is this really going to provide long-term and sustainable benefits for our society?
The world had the hottest May on record this year. Climate change is real and our current lifestyle is the problem.
So encouraging more consumption, whether it is of gas or goods brought by gas, is not going to solve the crisis we are in.
Setting a price on carbon is aimed at driving change, and while it might be painful in the short term, let's not pretend the option to not change what we're doing is going to work.
What will happen if things get hotter, drier, and we see more devastating climatic shifts? Will our forest industry survive? How will the jobs related to our natural resource industry continue?
The goal of putting a price on carbon is to shift us off of the source of our problem, to drive us towards change.
While it is not the only answer, it is one part of directing development towards a more sustainable economy.
Skiers who want their local resorts to open, ranchers who would like to know they have a reliable source of water for their livestock and hunters who want to be able to have places and game to hunt might want to consider how the extra $10 a tank of gas (based on an 60 litre tank) might be a small price to pay.
We have been subsidizing suburban sprawl, increased vehicle size and higher rates of driving speed for long enough. Our planet and children have been paying the price in loss of biodiversity and death on our roads, and those costs are rising.
