Archived Letter - 1504

Dear Editor:
What’s with the Conservatives, both federal and provincial?  The CPC had a chance to choose Michael Chong’s polluters pay plan with money being returned through income tax reductions and dividend cheques, while also reforming income tax, which is sorely needed.  The Ontario PCs had another golden opportunity with Patrick Brown’s People’s Guarantee, which was very similar, but they blew it both times!  The Conservatives aren’t listening to economists who say a tax on polluters is the most economical way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nor to a Nobel laureate who says the same.  What do they do instead?  They spout polarizing rhetoric about a carbon tax killing jobs and costing us more than we can afford, neither of which is true.  And what is their response to the latest IPCC report that says we have 12 years at most to turn around our changing climate?  Nothing!  Neither the federal nor the provincial Conservatives have come out with a plan.  If they ever do, it will probably involve expensive regulations, which cost a minimum of $200 per metric ton compared with $20 per metric ton for a pollution tax.  However, the true costs will be hidden from the taxpayer, unlike the pollution tax.  And if nothing is done, you won’t want to know what the coming climate catastrophes will cost!  So, my question is: where is the Conservative leadership, who always claimed to be protectors of the environment, and the taxpayer’s wallet?
Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh, ON

Ron Moore