BCTA promotes carbon tax alternatives for trucking

LANGLEY, B.C. — Still not convinced a carbon tax will improve the province’s environment, the B.C. Trucking Association says they have a few ideas of what will work.

The association is carrying out a sustained campaign to convince the provincial government that those options are viable and that the government has a responsibility to help provide them, if it is sincere in its intention to protect B.C.’s environment and its people from the effects of climate change.

According to the BCTA, carbon taxes paid by the trucking industry will represent 10 to 12 percent of the total paid by B.C. taxpayers and a much higher proportion of the total paid by B.C. businesses. In total, the carbon tax could cost the industry from $423 to $462 million over five years.

Currently, the only provincial incentive directly related to reducing trucking industry GHGs is the PST exemption on aerodynamic and diesel vehicle emission control devices, BCTA says.

As a result, it is promoting a more comprehensive package that includes significant incentives and regulatory changes that would allow the industry to invest in proven technologies and strategies to cut fuel usage.

BCTA’s proposed carbon tax options include:

– A province-wide information outreach campaign on approved technologies and available financing options, similar to the outreach centres established in the US Pacific Northwest by Cascade Sierra Solutions.

Rather than a carbon tax, BCTA is urging changes that
would allow for the adoption of fuel-efficient technology.

 .- A licensing fee holiday for the first 12 months for new model heavy vehicles (trucks and buses) with smog-free engines, to encourage purchasing of ‘clean’ equipment.

– A retrofit program targeting 1,200 to 1,500 large commercial vehicles that would qualify for a 50 percent government-sponsored rebate for qualified energy efficiency technologies (including aerodynamic devices, anti-idling equipment, super-single tires and so on), no-interest 2-year guaranteed loans, and PST exemptions.

– Additional regulatory changes that would allow for the adoption of fuel-efficient technology without freight-carrying capacity penalties, for example, extra weight for anti-idling equipment and 2007 and newer engines.

– Allowing greater scope in the use of long combination vehicles to improve freight transportation efficiency.

BCTA estimates that the incentives that make up the first three options will cost the provincial government $22 million per year for three years or 34 percent of what the trucking industry will pay in carbon taxes over the same period.

The group recently met to discuss these carbon tax options with Finance Minister Colin Hansen, with the head of the Climate Change Secretariat (which reports to the Premier) on Aug. 1, and will also make a pre-budget presentation on Sept. 24.

 


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