I think I'm turning into "that political guy"
I read this article about how GM is closing a plant here in Ontario. And I wish I was the kind of person to just index and file off every news article I read to pull out at a later time. But THIS is the difference between the current Ontario government and past, sensible ones.
The Conservative party literally campaigned on making and keeping jobs in this province. And it even focused a lot of its rhetoric around the automotive industry. It was an easy target, they were on the campaign trail, not in office. They didn't need to back anything they said up. They just needed to say it to appease the masses.
And don't say for one second that "no one could have seen this coming" or any nonsense to that effect. I have been saying FOR YEARS that the oil and auto industry are TOTALLY unsustainable. And that any reasonable government should be making plans to have a lot of workers exiting those industries rather than waiting for them to lose their jobs and pick up the pieces after.
The Ford government watches thousands of workers lose jobs in exactly the sort of industry he claimed to protect and boost business... and he says (paraphrased) "well, it's done".
Yeah, now that the decision has been made... it is pretty much said and done with.
But let us not pretend that there was A) nothing which could have been ahead of time which might have helped and B) that there was nothing better the government could have been doing than trying to save a dying industry.
I'm not a pessimist. And I'm not a jerk. I don't WANT people in these industries to lose jobs. But, I know that they will, and that it will continue to happen. The number of people employed in these jobs is decreasing globally. The average wages are decreasing. Expensive countries to employ these workers like the US and Canada are natural targets to close plants.
And here is the kicker... where are the jobs going? Renewables. That big old mean word the Ford government seems to hate.
Another thing I've been saying for years. You don't need to believe in climate change to get behind this. The world is moving in that direction regardless. While global oil consumption is struggling, demand for renewable energy sources and things which run without the need for fossil fuels is climbing.
This Western refusal to accept that is driving the IP to other countries. 20 years from now, the US and Canada may barely be a footnotes in economic history. China is destroying everyone in terms of capacity and production of solar. And many other European nations are doing much better than the America's and are pioneers in other renewables like wind and geo-thermal.
The short version of the story... the economy... it doesn't give two shits if you believe in man made climate change or not. All signs point to renewables being the future of business. The economy has no loyalty to science or reason. Hence the reason Apple became one of the most valuable companies on the planet by selling an army of identical looking products years after calling PC owners unoriginal sheep in commercials.
The logical thing for any government to do is to put a plan in motion to transition those in that field into other jobs with an effort to encourage them to switch their skills to a field better aligned with that future.
Sadly, while many mock it, the easiest way to fund that sort of initiative? Carbon pricing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. A tax on carbon is actually an incredibly smart way to finance investment of training and research for that future. The Cap and Trade system Ontario had in place with the current government is dismantling was, in some ways, even better. But, a carbon tax isn't really an outright tax. Not everyone gets taxed. Nor do they get taxed according to pay brackets. The companies get taxed, which likely gets passed onto the consumers who only pay as they consume.
Now, this generally gets a chorus of chants like "only the rich can afford to buy Tesla's" and so presume that such a tax means the average working will pay the lion's share. But, realistically speaking, the rich are going to pay more. Much more. A tax on carbon will make a great deal of things more expensive if it were implemented right now. And a great many of those things, the rich will buy in greater quantity than the average person.
Also, you have a choice. Perhaps not when it comes to fueling your car. But then, we often drive when we don't need too. Or drive like ass hats which blows through a lot more gas. Taxing the end products means that the individual does have some control over how much they pay in these "taxes". And, the proposed rebate checks amounted to more than the average person would spend in taxes on things like gas and heating.
When I watch the way the average person on the road drives, I can easily say that most people could save money, even with a carbon tax simply by being a more responsible driver.
And, as I said above, the Cap and Trade system was even better for the end consumer. By allowing companies to auction off allotments of carbon production, it meant that responsible companies could actually offer you less expensive products or services and only polluters would have to address the higher costs. It was actually kind of elegant. As for the cost of a Tesla... well, this system provided money for the government to subsidize electric vehicles. Making them more affordable and thus easier for lower income houses to buy-in.
But MAN are people bad a timing. With the Tesla Model 3 and cheaper alternatives from competitors just around the corner that might have seen a subsidized electric vehicle sell for under $20k... THAT is when voters elect a government like this?
I'm starting to think that it was never about the wealthy being able to afford Tesla's but more about making sure that the prices never got low enough that idiots would ever have to actually think about their environmental impact.
The Conservative party literally campaigned on making and keeping jobs in this province. And it even focused a lot of its rhetoric around the automotive industry. It was an easy target, they were on the campaign trail, not in office. They didn't need to back anything they said up. They just needed to say it to appease the masses.
And don't say for one second that "no one could have seen this coming" or any nonsense to that effect. I have been saying FOR YEARS that the oil and auto industry are TOTALLY unsustainable. And that any reasonable government should be making plans to have a lot of workers exiting those industries rather than waiting for them to lose their jobs and pick up the pieces after.
The Ford government watches thousands of workers lose jobs in exactly the sort of industry he claimed to protect and boost business... and he says (paraphrased) "well, it's done".
Yeah, now that the decision has been made... it is pretty much said and done with.
But let us not pretend that there was A) nothing which could have been ahead of time which might have helped and B) that there was nothing better the government could have been doing than trying to save a dying industry.
I'm not a pessimist. And I'm not a jerk. I don't WANT people in these industries to lose jobs. But, I know that they will, and that it will continue to happen. The number of people employed in these jobs is decreasing globally. The average wages are decreasing. Expensive countries to employ these workers like the US and Canada are natural targets to close plants.
And here is the kicker... where are the jobs going? Renewables. That big old mean word the Ford government seems to hate.
Another thing I've been saying for years. You don't need to believe in climate change to get behind this. The world is moving in that direction regardless. While global oil consumption is struggling, demand for renewable energy sources and things which run without the need for fossil fuels is climbing.
This Western refusal to accept that is driving the IP to other countries. 20 years from now, the US and Canada may barely be a footnotes in economic history. China is destroying everyone in terms of capacity and production of solar. And many other European nations are doing much better than the America's and are pioneers in other renewables like wind and geo-thermal.
The short version of the story... the economy... it doesn't give two shits if you believe in man made climate change or not. All signs point to renewables being the future of business. The economy has no loyalty to science or reason. Hence the reason Apple became one of the most valuable companies on the planet by selling an army of identical looking products years after calling PC owners unoriginal sheep in commercials.
The logical thing for any government to do is to put a plan in motion to transition those in that field into other jobs with an effort to encourage them to switch their skills to a field better aligned with that future.
Sadly, while many mock it, the easiest way to fund that sort of initiative? Carbon pricing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. A tax on carbon is actually an incredibly smart way to finance investment of training and research for that future. The Cap and Trade system Ontario had in place with the current government is dismantling was, in some ways, even better. But, a carbon tax isn't really an outright tax. Not everyone gets taxed. Nor do they get taxed according to pay brackets. The companies get taxed, which likely gets passed onto the consumers who only pay as they consume.
Now, this generally gets a chorus of chants like "only the rich can afford to buy Tesla's" and so presume that such a tax means the average working will pay the lion's share. But, realistically speaking, the rich are going to pay more. Much more. A tax on carbon will make a great deal of things more expensive if it were implemented right now. And a great many of those things, the rich will buy in greater quantity than the average person.
Also, you have a choice. Perhaps not when it comes to fueling your car. But then, we often drive when we don't need too. Or drive like ass hats which blows through a lot more gas. Taxing the end products means that the individual does have some control over how much they pay in these "taxes". And, the proposed rebate checks amounted to more than the average person would spend in taxes on things like gas and heating.
When I watch the way the average person on the road drives, I can easily say that most people could save money, even with a carbon tax simply by being a more responsible driver.
And, as I said above, the Cap and Trade system was even better for the end consumer. By allowing companies to auction off allotments of carbon production, it meant that responsible companies could actually offer you less expensive products or services and only polluters would have to address the higher costs. It was actually kind of elegant. As for the cost of a Tesla... well, this system provided money for the government to subsidize electric vehicles. Making them more affordable and thus easier for lower income houses to buy-in.
But MAN are people bad a timing. With the Tesla Model 3 and cheaper alternatives from competitors just around the corner that might have seen a subsidized electric vehicle sell for under $20k... THAT is when voters elect a government like this?
I'm starting to think that it was never about the wealthy being able to afford Tesla's but more about making sure that the prices never got low enough that idiots would ever have to actually think about their environmental impact.
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