Climate Stupidity Canadian Style

 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doubles down on carbon taxes, hammering Canadian farms and raising prices for everyone.

Destroying Canada’s Farms, for What?

Competition is high between nations to see who can implement the silliest climate policies. President Biden is far in the lead, but other nations want to catch up.

Please consider Destroying Canada’s Farms, for What?

On April 1, 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau implemented a national minimum carbon price of $15 (Canadian) per tonne, due to rise to $170 per ton by 2030. Last month, he added a second carbon tax that, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, will “require producers to reduce the carbon content of their fuels or be forced to purchase credits.”

These two carbon taxes will cost the average family more than $2,000 per year, according to the Government of Canada’s own calculation. The same report notes that the taxes will “disproportionately impact lower and middle-income households,” “single mothers,” and “seniors living on fixed incomes.” 

“Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change,” admits Trudeau’s own Parliamentary Budget Office, due to increased emissions from the developing world.

“My competitors to the south of me in the United States do not pay that [carbon] tax, so now my cost goes up and I have no alternative,” says Jeff Barlow, a corn, wheat, and soybean farmer in Ontario. “By penalizing me, there’s nothing else that I can do but just be penalized.”

“If you push farmers against the wall with no wiggle room, I don’t know where this will end up,” warns Gunter Jochum, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. “Just look at what’s happening in Europe, in the Netherlands. They’ve had enough of it.”

The Green Solution?!

 To eliminate the benefit of US farmers, Jonathan Pedneault, deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada, has a solution. He wants to raise tariffs so the US would not have a competitive advantage over Canadian farmers.

Pedneault proposes “introducing tariffs for countries that apply no carbon tax or one that is lesser than Canada’s.”

Mercy!

Magic Money

To mitigate the hardships, Canada proposes Climate Action Incentive Payments. Through the magic of those payments (tax hikes or bigger deficits), Trudeau says the average family comes out ahead.

However, the overall economic impacts are hugely negative as the next chart shows.

Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan Fiscal and Economic Impact

Fiscal and Economic Impact

Our estimate of the economic impact captures the loss in employment and investment income that would result from the federal fuel charge.

Differential impacts on the returns to capital and wages, combined with differences in the distribution of employment and investment income drive the variation in household net costs across provinces. When the economic impact is combined with the fiscal impact, the net cost increases for all households, reflecting the overall negative economic impact of the federal fuel charge

The above charts from a Distributional Analysis of the Federal Fuel Charge under the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

Even “free” money does not mitigate the losses.

Let’s sum it up this way. You gain $699 in Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, you lose your job.

And for what? If Canada stopped all carbon emissions tomorrow it would not even register, except for the Canadian economy which would crash.

EU Imposes the World’s Largest Carbon Tax Scheme, Inflationary Madness Sets In

On December 19, 2022 I noted EU Imposes the World’s Largest Carbon Tax Scheme, Inflationary Madness Sets In

To prevent “carbon leakage” the European Parliament Reached a Deal on a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM for short.

And now Canada proposes it will match or exceed the carbon taxes of anyone.

A New Green Deal Trade War Accelerates Between the US and EU

The result was A New Green Deal Trade War Accelerates Between the US and EU

It’s safe to add Canada to the mix.

The Shocking Truth About Biden’s Proposed Energy Fuel Standards

In case you missed it, please consider The Shocking Truth About Biden’s Proposed Energy Fuel Standards

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA did an impact assessment of 4 fuel standard proposals and compared them to the cost of doing nothing. Guess what.

The NHTSA conclude: “Net benefits [of stricter mile standards] for passenger cars remain negative across alternatives” vs doing nothing at all.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/climate-stupidity-canadian-style/