Today the Nobel Prize in…

Today the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to William Nordhaus of Yale University and Paul Romer of of New York University. Based on research with detailed economic models Nordhaus has called for the world to combat climate change by imposing a universal tax on carbon. Per Stromberg, head of the Nobel economics prize committee, said the award is "about the long-run future of the world economy". Many economists have endorsed the concept of taxing carbon.

The prize comes just a day after the report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in which the world's leading climate scientists have warned we have only 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe. This requires "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all of society."

The Ontario government must get back on board with a price on carbon, one that will make a difference in all areas of society. It is highly irresponsible to waste time and tax payer money on scrapping the Cap and Trade program which was bringing billions of dollars into Ontario and benefiting lots of ordinary citizens. Fighting a national carbon tax is not what we want our government to be wasting it's time on. This must NOT be a political issue! We need a government that thinks of the greater good for generations to come. The massive consequences of not doing the right thing immediately will result in huge costs ecomonically and tip us into a distopian world we don't even want to imagine but scientists know will come if we continue on the path we are on now.

I am angry and embarrassed by a premier who is actively fighting a carbon tax. It reflects profound lack of understanding and the kind of regressive thinking that is short-sited and highly irresponsible. The work of the Nobel Prize in Economics shows us how to take the world out of a catastrophic spiral and move forward into positive economic and environmental health.
PLEASE PAY ATTENTION AND ENACT RESPONSIBLE POLICY DECISIONS THAT INCLUDE TAXING CARBON!