Premier David Eby released a statement about scrapping the provincial carbon tax this week that has been met with considerable pushback from environmental activists.
In his statement, Eby says the carbon tax has been a useful tool for many years in the fight against climate change.
However, the carbon tax has become an increasingly controversial matter that right-wing politicians have been pushing back hard against on the provincial and federal levels.
“Unfortunately, a series of decisions in Ottawa have politicized it and undermined support across the country,” Eby said in his statement.
“At the same time, we must recognize that British Columbians are being squeezed by global inflation and high interest rates.”
Eby added that if the federal carbon tax were to ever be scrapped, then he and his government would consider doing the same.
He specified that he would only consider scrapping the carbon tax on individuals—“big industry” would continue to have to pay, as a way of encouraging them to reduce emissions.
“I’m deeply committed to both fighting the climate crisis while helping British Columbians with costs so they can afford and benefit from lower-cost clean energy alternatives,” said Eby.
“Unfortunately, John Rustad has said that climate change is ‘a lie.’ He is promising to completely rip up BC’s climate action plan, leaving British Columbians more vulnerable to extreme weather events like wildfires and floods that add to costs we all pay and place huge pressures on the services we all count on.”
Rustad has been criticizing Eby as one of the “last defenders” of the carbon tax, which he says is a failed policy.
“David Eby has lied to British Columbians before, and he’ll do it again. He’s flip-flopped on this because he’s losing ground, and if re-elected, he’ll waste no time reversing his position on this tax,” said Rustad in a statement.
“British Columbians deserve real leadership, not a premier who changes his stance whenever it suits his political needs.”
The Green Party’s Leader Sofia Furstenau is opposed to the decision to scrap the carbon tax, regardless of what the federal government does.
“This is a government with no principles and no direction. Fix the carbon tax, make it fair, show how it can improve lives, and invest in the transition we need,” Fursenau said in a statement.
“Letting industry pollute for free means the public continues to pay the price.”
She added that she believes the BC NDP are “making up climate policy on the fly.”
“Make the price on carbon pollution transparent and fair, use it to benefit people and communities, and stop giving sweetheart deals to the oil and gas industry,” she concluded.
Similarly to the Greens, environmental activists are saying that to abandon the carbon tax because of political pressures would be a mistake.
Sierra Club BC believes that if the tax were abandoned, carbon pollution would increase in BC, which could lead to more natural disasters such as wildfires and flooding.
“Carbon pricing is an effective and low-cost tool for reducing carbon pollution and should be maintained,” said Sierra Club BC Campaigns Director Shelley Luce.
“If the consumer aspect is eliminated, the province must make further pollution reductions by increasing and accelerating additional climate policies. Finalizing a cap on oil and gas emissions, denying new fracking and LNG project permits, and shifting government support to renewable energy are areas where we can make major reductions in carbon pollution.”
The Sierra Club BC added that strong climate policies will save the Province money by reducing climate emergencies, which incur huge costs.
In 2023 alone, the Province spent nearly $1.1 billion on the wildfire response. This was more than double what was spent in 2022.
