BC Carbon Tax - North American First

Canada Day news.
Drivers on Canada West Coast now paying carbon tax

North America's first comprehensive carbon tax is now in effect in the Canadian West Coast province of British Columbia, greeted with complaints that some gasoline stations have used the tax as cover to raise prices more than necessary...

The tax, which is the first comprehensive carbon use-based tax in North America, places a fee of C$10 per tonne of carbon emissions on all fossil fuels. That will increase C$5 per tonne a year for the next four years.

Supporters say the tax will encourage people to use energy more efficiently and is needed for British Columbia to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming by 33 percent by 2020....

Critics have derided the fee as a "tax grab" that will hurt the economy and the poor, and say that recent increases in gasoline prices are already forcing people to reduce their energy consumption.

The BC NDP are hopping mad and leading a campaign called "axe the tax".

The party has placed a major political bet. James is going all in, gambling there's enough seething resentment about the new tax on gasoline to drive a significant number of voters from the B.C. Liberals.

But the NDP is paying a price for that stand. James knows her opposition to the Liberal version of the carbon tax is costing her heavily with environmental groups. The gamble is that the first voting bloc is bigger than the second one.

Here's the BC NDP's "Framework for Real Climate Action" spelling out their 7-point plan.