Recently a letter to the editor stated that loss of government revenue from oil and gas resulting from the transition to electric vehicles would become “critical” once the percentage of EV’s on the road reached 25 per cent.
Natural Resources Canada states that government revenues from energy was $14 billion in 2017.
The clean economy is bringing in revenue for the government as well. That will continue to grow.
Oil and gas revenues come with expenses. Annual Canadian subsidies to oil and gas are $4.7 billion, according to a 2018 global sustainability think-tank report (ODI.org’s G7 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Scorecard).
The federal government web-page Air Pollution: Human Health Costs report says that a 10 per cent reduction in air pollution would save $4 billion per year.
What percentage will air pollution drop by transitioning our transportation system to be fully electric? Would a 20 per cent drop save us $8 billion per year?
Then there’s the elephant in the room; the climate crisis. How much is this costing us already?
CO2 takes decades to dissipate from the atmosphere. And we’re still adding to it.
To flip that dreary perspective, we can look at it in a positive way. We can solve this.
The savings from avoiding the worst effects of the climate crisis will be substantial.
First thing: Let’s ensure a just transition for oil and gas workers and end the fossil fuel subsidies.
Paul Russo
Penticton