Maybe it’s something in the air?

Maybe it’s the time of year?

Or is it just coincidental fate?

The autumnal Equinox is approaching and giving us equal periods of day and night.

Ironically, this falls on the same day as our Federal election giving us equal opportunity to choose between whose ambition will result in actual action.

More to the point, who will have to pay for their vowed actions?

Within the energy family of misfits, the oil and gas industry has been painted, by some people in this country, as the modern day tobacco industry.

They believe it should all be shut down or just leave the stuff in the ground for goodness sake!

If we have to use it to run our economy… then let’s make it as expensive, and thereby as financially uncomfortable as possible for the consumers.

One way we can put the oil industry out of its misery is to transfer this misery to us and make all petroleum products really, really expensive.

So enter the carbon tax, which despite its apparent good intensions, has done nothing to lower demand for any refined products.

Nor has it reduced our GHG emissions.

Nor has the USA, the world’s largest crude oil refined product producer, and GHG emitter, even considered following this country’s lead with a carbon penalty.

What our carbon tax grab has done is to make us less competitive with our largest trading partner.

Has anyone asked the question WHY Canada, the only country in the world, with an oil and gas industry as a part of its economic portfolio, who penalizes that industry with a tax and in turn dissuades much needed investment in our country, and then harshly penalizes the consumer?

That’s what’s happening in Canada. But the U.S. and the EU are not following suit.

The idea of a carbon tax question is now a problem for the European Union who see what we do not see.

Applying a tax cannot be a one off for just one member of the union because that would make its manufactured products uncompetitive with their neighbour.

Sound familiar?

At least they get it!

One possible solution is to charge a border carbon tax on imported products that produce high emissions in their production.

Aha! But some say this would merely be another name for a tariff and would just lead to trade wars.

I guess the solution for the EU is to get a consensus on an agreeable price level for ALL members of the union.

I assume that all EU members have taken, and passed, advanced courses of herding cats.

The International Monetary Fund has thrown in a ballot price for a global carbon levy of $75 per tonne by 2030.

Ha, we say!

Canada’s target is $170 per tonne!

So here we are. Alone. But leading the world? Are we?

– Roger McKnight – B.Sc., Senior Petroleum Analyst

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