Carbon Pricing part two

Well it has become a reality now as of January 1st. The new carbon pricing (tax) is now in effect and as I warned prices have gone up around the various provinces.

The immediate effect has been seen on the price of gasoline, which went up 5 cents a litre overnight. Even though if you work out the percentage it should only be 4.2 cents a litre, the big oil companies have rounded it up to 5 cents and are voicing the blame on the government.

Interestingly the last time fuel prices were this high, oil was trading at 80 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile it is stuck at 51 dollars a barrel. The oil companies snuck in a price increase just days before the new tax took effect and they are hoping we don't notice. Well we did and it is as shameful as the new carbon tax imposed by the government in the name of Global warming.

Well in my last article on Carbon tax, I told you how great it would be if the money actually went towards green projects, such as Solar energy or more Public Transit. But we know the government will put it into general revenue where it will spend it as it sees fit. Lately that has been for projects that make big donor companies rich with new government contracts. New transit remains stagnate and no new green energy programs have been started.

Of course this new Carbon tax is not just on car gasoline, it also affects home heating. Natural gas to heat our homes will increase about 5% on the monthly bill. The worse thing about this is that the tax then gets taxed by federal and provincial taxes. That's right, tax on your tax.

Also look as the price of goods will soon go up as manufactures are being hit with the new tax as well. And you know they are not going to absorb the new cost. It will get passed onto the consumer just like everything else, yet wages stay low.

So where ever you may be from, beware when your government starts talking Carbon Pricing in the name of Global Warning. It is nothing but a tax grab my friends.

Carbon Pricing

First of all it is not pricing people, it is a new tax. You have to like how politicians change around a few words to make things sound a bit better to the public. Well we are not all fooled. This latest stunt is just another tax grab, not a true concern about the environment.

The Ontario Liberals have signed into place a cap and trade rule for Ontario's industries. The basics are that each company buys some permits to allow for a set amount of pollution to be produced each month or year. Should they pollute so much that they use up their credits, they can trade for some credits from another company who has not required all their permits. This would allow the first company to continue to pollute with its new credit.

So at first look we say great, the polluters have to buy permits which the funds collected go into green projects to help the environment. Sounds good? Well not so fast. With these new "permits" (taxes) who do you think the companies will pass the added costs onto? That's right, the consumer. They will build this tax into the final pricing of goods they sell to us. So the end result is the cost of living goes up once again.

The government estimates it will raise additional revenue of 2.5 Billion dollars. Now if this actually went to public transit, clean energy or other green initiatives, that would be great. But we all (should) know that they will put it into general revenue and therefore fund what ever they currently want done.

Let's not be fooled again by this government, and start to speak out against this new tax now before you see the price of gas and other goods increase to further empty your wallet.