Politalk.ca

Here's my proposals to increase EV sales and reduce CO2 in the transportation sector.

1 - Keep the carbon tax but lock it at it's current rate or around 30¢, remove it from heating and farming fuels. Stop the stupid rebates, if you can afford a car you can afford the tax. Taxing LNG stops as it's an important step in long term CO2 reduction is moronic.
2- Use the revenue to keep EV and PHEV rebates at the $$K levels until basic EV costs equal ICE vehicles. Hell even back in the 1980s when some of us ran propane and LNG cars they polluted less. Maybe a small subsidy for those conversions!
3- Fuck the tariffs on Chinese EVs. What would spread electric cars faster than having the choice between a $25,000 Chinese EV that cost $10 a week to run vs a $60,000 N American gas guzzler that cost $60 a week. Just make them exempt from federal EV rebates. This would also force N American makers to get their shit together and compete rather than whine and hide behind tariffs. Keep in mind Australia didn't collapse when domestic auto production shut down.

It's something. Beats a trade agreement when Mexico builds half its cars not to terms as the penalty is so insignificant and the main player is as untrustworthy as Donald Trump and would rip up any agreement on a whim or simply refuse to abide like with softwood.

Not bad ideas, but . . .

Taxing LNG is just as important as taxing gasoline. The point is reduction. People can switch to heat pumps or geothermal. Incentiveize those.

Keeping rebates on cars is good, but dropping tariffs is better. I'm surprised there aren't tariffs on the Hundais and BMWs that are being built in China and sold in North America. The labour and environmental standards are still artificially subsidized. Which is obvious if they can ship cars overseas and still make money on them.

The problem is twofold, NA cars have to use NA labour, which just cost more. And NA cars are so overbuilt that they are too heavy and too expensive to build and maintain. Whatever happened to the cars like the Mazda B2200 or Chevy Chevette? Basic cars. Doorhandles and roll up windows. Nothing fancy. Instead, the company that builds the Charger Demon Hellcat Redeye 1000hp tireburner has lost 80% of it's stock value because they have lost the plot. Whereas the BYD and Greely stocks that I bought last year have earned 40%.

China is kicking our asses because we rested on our laurels and failed to innovate.