‘Malicious deception’

Dear Editor:

I found the Advertiser’s April 1 political cartoon not only offensive but a malicious deception.

In 2020 when the carbon tax increased from $20 per tonne CO2 to $30 per tonne, or a 50 % increase, the consumer price index increased by less than 1 % over the year – hardly a bell ringing endorsement of the cartoonist’s portrayal of the effect of the carbon tax.

In a recent letter to the editor, (Carbon tax rebate, March 25), I showed that I am getting back over $100 more than the carbon tax cost me in 2020. In fact, 70% of households get back more than they paid as a result of the carbon tax. The carbon tax and rebate is one of the more efficient ways of weaning us off of burning fossil fuels.

We are in a climate crisis and we should be fighting against it as if it’s a world war, because it is! What does the cartoonist think will happen to the cost of living if we don’t win this war – if we can’t grow food because of drought and floods, if we freeze because of infrastructure failure, if we die because of excessive heat and humidity?

We have been warned. The carbon tax is here and it increases every year. If you don’t burn fossil fuels, you don’t pay the tax. So, drive less, drive smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles, go electric if you can, improve your home insulation, put solar panels on your roof, grow your own vegetables instead of grass and vote for politicians who support dealing with the climate emergency. If everyone would use less and use smaller, we might just have a chance – no fooling!

Ron Moore,
Hillsburgh