Published | Publié: 2021-11-24 New Brunswick Telegraph Journal | OPINION | A6 Received | Reçu: 2021-11-24 02:39 (EST)
N.B. doing its part on emissions reductions
John G. Hollins
During the past 10 years, the price of regular gasoline at the pump in New Brunswick has been on a rollercoaster. Way back in 2012, gas in Saint John was $1.54 a litre in today’s dollars. More recently, it has ranged between a low of $0.73 a litre in April 2020 and a high of $1.43 a litre in October this year.
The annual federal carbon tax was lost in the noise of the marketplace. Hardly anyone in New Brunswick would have noticed its impact on these volatile prices. It was a totally useless measure. It cannot have influenced anyone in New Brunswick.
Not only was it useless, but the imposition of a carbon tax was fundamentally unfair in a province that had already reduced its emissions by the 30 per cent Canada committed to in Paris in 2015. New Brunswick did that with strategic vision, closing one coal-fired and one oil-fired electricity generating station. When it closes the last of its coal-fired stations, New Brunswick will probably have the lowest emissions per citizen in Canada. The only rival for this distinction will be Nova Scotia.
John G. Hollins Gloucester, Ont.
© 2021 Telegraph-Journal (New Brunswick)
