How a national carbon tax could also serve as an olive branch – The Globe and Mail
A resonating takeaway from the New Diplomacy of Natural Resources was that, in order to maximize co-operation and minimize strife, resource development must be sustainable, and open to broad, collaborative dialogue. The great shame of oil and gas extraction is that, by the nature of its carbon emissions, it fundamentally undermines both these qualifications.
Anthropogenic climate change will not only alter domestic landscapes and conditions, jeopardizing the goal of sustainability, but because the atmosphere does not respect political boundaries, resulting climate impacts are not limited to Canada. Disadvantaged and far removed populations share in the consequences of our actions, yet they have no stake in the consultations.
The nature of the Canadian economy, and the global energy mix, speaks to the importance of oil and gas resource development in coming decades. It is not, however, an invitation to manage the development of these resources in a haphazard manner. Sound legislation must be attached to resource development to ensure its social and environmental viability. As such, I would propose a national carbon tax as a method to both alleviate the aforementioned concerns, but also to act as a point of reconciliation among divided stakeholders
