On Solutions, Bikes, and Tax Rebates

Carrying my bike up the stairs to my apartment I ran into a neighrbour on his way down, also carrying a bike. I backed off, letting him through, and he said, “What are the chances!?”, “Pretty slim”, I said, adding “…but getting better with gas prices and all”… It’s the modern pill – take to the solution when the problem has finally come far enough.

So while some move to bikes, in suburban America houses are losing value as gas prices go up. What used to be a good trade off and selling point – cheaper house for added commute – is no longer adding up.

Rack up a new inverse correlation: gas prices to real estate value…what exciting times we live in!

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In other news, I got my $100 Climate Action Dividend rebate from my friendly Provincial government last week. It is supposed to be an incentive to “help British Columbians live a lower carbon lifestyle”. That said, they’d like us to spend it on something to help us become (or continue to be) environmentally friendly. I like the idea, and I may spend it either on bike parts which I needed anyway, or one of those apartment (balcony) worm farm composting trays…yet to be decided.

Some potential problems with the friendly rebate:

• People will spend it on gas, directly or indirectly
• It will get lost in their chequing account, and spent on food. Or on gas getting to food.
• They were all sent out on paper cheques, in envelopes. Accompanying those cheques was a pamphlet with ideas on how to spend your carbon friendly rebate.
• Free-ish money sends mixed messages.

The population of British Colombia is approx 4.3 million, that’s:

• 4.3 million pamphlets wasted (or hopefully recycled)
• $430 million back to taxpayers, at least $200 million back to oil companies (sigh)

Positives:

• Conscious people will spend it on the right things, i.e. change light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs, water saving technology, etc. – and I like to think British Columbia is packed with conscious people.
• $430 million injection into the local economy, layered throughout the summer.
• We can look forward to more rebates/savings, this time available through the actual gas/carbon tax now (as of July 1st, Canada Day) officially implemented in British Columbia.

So, will we start to see more personal and government action? Will it be, again “the more things change, the more they stay the same…” ? From what I’ve seen and heard, Canadians are ahead of their government when it comes to environmental consciousness. That’s normal, as bureaucracy takes time, especially implemented through dinosaurs.

But here we have the chance, with ‘free’ money, to make a personal change thanks to the government.

If you’re in BC, what will you spend it on? If not, what would you spend it on? Do express.

A Forest Story: From Carbon Sink to Carbon Stink

The following is a story about one of the most important forests and versatile resources that Canada has to offer to the world. More than just the forest, it is a story of a beetle the size of a grain of rice. This is a story about the mountain pine beetle (MPB), and how it is transforming our precious resource as (one of) the world’s largest carbon sinks, to the worlds largest carbon stinks.

• In the late 1800’s to early 20th Century, a series of fires swept their way across the western provinces and states (which is only natural), making way for vast pine forests that thrive in post-burn habitat.

• Also, before 1993 or so, the pine beetle was just another species coming and going amongst our resource. Fires would stop their spread, and temperatures below -30 C for weeks at a time would usually wipe them out. Today: fires are controlled for industrial and safety reasons (private and/or public land), and temperatures are not getting down to those killer numbers anymore. This is Global Warming causing itself as the beetle kills the pine…

• Scientists estimate that mountain pine beetles will wipe out 80 percent of B.C’s pine forests by 2013 – the only race now is to stop their expansion into Alberta, which has already begun. Today they have already killed billions of trees on their way to Alberta, and the current focus is community safety, beetle-kill salvage, and suppression of their move east.

• Researchers from the Canadian Forest Service report that by the time the current infestation ends, the rice-sized beetles will have killed enough trees so that an extra billion tonnes of carbon dioxide will be wafting through the atmosphere. Apparently, that is five times the annual emissions from all the cars, trucks, trains and planes in Canada.

The outbreak has been a disaster for B.C. and it is estimated more than 435 million cubic metres of timber has been lost. I have seen, worked and been within communities and parks which are now in the midst of dead forests that can stretch hundreds of kilometers. Also, due to increased – and often salvage – logging, there is more and more timber on the market to further drive down prices, and to further harm the industry.

The question now is, where we go from here, and what can you do to help?

• The move to biofuels is an important step. While controversial, expensive, and often speculative, creating energy from the beetle-kill salvage is already underway.
• Future investment within B.C, education of future resource managers, and use of pre-infestation management techniques such as controlled burning will help to reduce the impact of a future infestation.
• Users of any land and resources, that’s you, should know and be aware of its existence and impact on the land as well as market. Having read this, you can now use it as an example of mis-management, and understand the benefits of controlled management.

Importantly, all should know that the MPB may (and is beginning to) break out in California, Oregon and Washington. As of today, this is a B.C. and Alberta problem that will become a North American issue, especially concerning the released carbon and its future impact.

Healthcare and Gas Prices: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love High Taxes

The way I see it (or how I stay calm when I see the federal collection of 20 percent of my income) is that a tax is the price you pay to a Nation for its services. There are two taxes I will discuss in this post; healthcare and a carbon tax. One makes my life easier and helps me to feel safer, and one seems to punish (I almost typed punch) drivers for their habits. Both of which I am okay with.

There are many factors which scare people away from the thought of a Federal healthcare system, but in a recent poll on CNN Money it was shown that only 56 percent of those who answered the poll were in favour of Universal Healthcare (44 percent against). The fact that the poll was on CNN Money may point to the fact that people had costs in mind (increased taxes) when they voted, but look, were they not thinking of the costs of medicine and treatment as they stand?

Look at this insert about Giuliani’s arguments against universal healthcare (likely written to annoy Republicans), and you can see that some of Giuliani’s reasons are that he doesn’t want to upset his Doctor, Lawyer and other cocktail party buddies. (I’m guilty of splicing):

“I don’t like mandating health care. I don’t like it because it erodes what makes health care work in this country — the free market, the profit motive. A mandate takes choice away from people…The minute you start mandating, you always end up with more expensive government programs.”

Canada can serve as both a good and bad example for Universal Healthcare. It has gone through its good and bad periods, but the fact is that it exists, and works. It can be a political hot-button, and not about the existence of it; but the funding of it. Some would say it still costs too much for the citizen, while offering mediocre to poor service. Often, that depends on your location. I myself have never experienced any problems, but I have deceived injury or illness so far.

Here are Canada’s basics from my perspective, with just a little bit of online research thrown in; I wanted it to sound as natural as possible.

1. It is super cheap, and ‘included’, not free: In some provinces it is built into the tax system, like Ontario, so you don’t actually receive any bills at all. No bills. In British Columbia though, where I live, we pay about $50 a month for total coverage, billed how ever you request it (quarterly for example).

This $ amount covers all ‘walk-in’ clinics, medical checkups, dermatology, urology etc, and even basic surgery depending on the case (broken bones, stitches, appendicitis). There are walk-in clinics, depending on where you live, every few city blocks.

I teased Michael Moore in a recent post here about never travelling far enough to cover ‘Canada’ in any of his films, See # 9. Taxes and healthcare differ slightly country-wide.

2. Dental, eye-care, Chiropractors, and certain unconventional medicines are not covered under this plan. These are covered under employer benefits if you are a lucky one.

3. This just in: B.C. will be the first in Canada to cover acupuncture for low-income residents (a combined household income of $28,000 or below). Sounds good to me. If most pain medication is covered under the plan, then this traditional alternative should be too.

So, in the US, a country that holds 40 million uninsured citizens, is it too late to ‘punish’ people with a significant tax increase? Would you see it as a good step forward? Would you go as far as voting for it?

Now, a carbon tax, which has just been implemented here in British Columbia (second in Canada after Quebec), will affect fuel consumers first. Granted, this is a political move – one that will only just begin to touch on the changes needed to sway Greenhouse Gas emissions – but it is one of many policies that should start to change personal and corporate habit. To dampen the sting they plan to loosen tax elsewhere, and send all residents an automatic $100 rebate (supposedly collected through the tax). I think to drive their point home they should send an extra $100 to people who can prove they do not own a car. Just a thought…

There is no better way, I can practically guarantee, to change peoples habits in gas consumption and use, than to make it have an impact on them. There’s no visual impact (but smog) to show for consulmption habits up till now, so they kick you in the bank account. Hurt yet?

Overall, taxes are payment for a service. 1. Health 2. The thought of cleaner air. I feel that I am getting what I’m paying for as far as healthcare is concerned, and am glad that I am offered this service practically free of hassle. This initial carbon tax is an investment for the future: it will push people towards mileage-oriented cars, and more sustainable habits.

The buck starts here. Would you happily pay higher tax for any of the above mentioned benefits?

And In Good Time…

As if of practical magic, I was starting to wonder why there was mad Green push for energy producers. British Columbia implements a Carbon tax.

I’m glad, and I think it is good that it comes down (in many ways) to people spending less on their energy consumption.

At some point, I will continue to rap on about the stress this puts on the land.

Power Crisis: Cancelled

Cont. from previous post: Further justification of (what I think is) too many initial projects, comes from the gaining of carbon offsetting credit:

It is estimated that the project will yielding a GHG offset equivalent to more than 65000 tonnes CO2/yr.
– company project page.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. There must be a wide range (and in fact a whole world) of information that surrounds the business/environmental/ecological impacts of this trade.

It’s hard to know where to start my analysis. IS it a step forward, in clean energy planning? – or is it a step into the business side of energy first, followed by an inspection into the ecological harm when people start complaining?

The Overblown Crisis & Provincial Moneymaking

It’s true when they say that a power crisis is looming, but it’s not a crisis as they would like you to believe, as if we have an epidemic. British Columbia is running low on large hydro operations and is pushing (or opening the door wide open) for small, environmentally friendly, independent power generators. I’ve mentioned them before.

What’s silly is that it’s not the province itself that is running low, it’s that they may have to start selling less power to California, and would make less money as a publicly run company. I believe it’s no problem that power generation is a huge moneymaker in BC, but here the pressure is being put on the land with hundreds of small power operations, rather than several large. The trade-off is practical, and we don’t have to flood any valleys – but the number of these proposed projects going in is ruthless.

Furthermore, from what I see it may be a dangerous play on loans. Selling their power to the provincial power producers, these independent little guys will probably make big money when they’re producing and selling, but it’s placing a timed pressure on the land and its inhabitants. I would think that ten years ago these operations would have gone up within 2 years, popping up unhindered. As of today their biggest annoyance is the Aboriginal groups asserting claim to the care of the land, designing their territory stewardship models – and pushing them legally.

It’s good. And like I said before, these above mentioned stewardship models are so unlike our growth culture with which we separate ourselves from the land. We are traditionally about about sweet views, and not much more.