Leading environmental groups are urging the B.C. government to raise gasoline taxes, tweak the carbon tax and close tax loopholes to get more revenue out of industrial polluters as a way to generate $1 billion annually and create what they call the Better Future Fund.
The coalition, Better Future British Columbia, is comprised of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, Clean Energy Canada at Tides Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Organizing for Change and the Pembina Institute.
“B.C. has been a climate leader in the past, but other countries are now catching up,” said Merran Smith, director of Clean Energy Canada at Tides Canada.
“We are challenging all parties to put climate solutions back on the front burner by creating a Better Future Fund that would strengthen communities, create jobs and diversify the economy.”
The coalition wants the $1 billion in new revenue each year to help fund:
- a Home and Business Energy Efficiency Fund ($25 million a year);
- an Innovation Fund ($50 million a year); and
- a Better Future Community Fund ($375 million a year) that would fund transit and other local solutions.
