Yes I know that there were other important issues that British Columbian’s had to consider when going to the polls yesterday, but that isn’t how that rest of the world saw it. To anyone outside of BC who had any interest in global warming policy the election was little more than a referendum on the palatability of a Carbon Tax.
Thankfully BC voters didn’t disappoint; they gave Gordon Campbell his third straight majority government. They said YES! to the carbon tax (whether they knew it or not), and no to the backwards cap and trade system proposed by the BC NDP.
DeSmogBlog’s Richard Littlemore sums up what this all means:
We can only hope now that the New Democrats will recognize their error [in opposing the carbon tax] and close the gap with their erstwhile environmental supporters. We hope they will change their policy and support the carbon tax – in fact, that they will demand the tax be increased quickly to a level at which it is truly effective.
We also hope that other political leaders in other jurisdictions will look at what has happened here in B.C. and start pursuing aggressive, promising climate change policies. A handsome cross section of international economists have said that a carbon tax can work. Now, a group of voters have said that a carbon tax can win political support. That’s a promising step toward a stable climate future.
We can and should hope that BC’s two mainstream parties begin to take global warming seriously, and that this rational approach (instead of parties merely trying to score cheap political points) in dealing with one of the most daunting challenges faced by us all spreads to other jurisdictions.
Today there is reason for optimism.
Well Dan, it’s over. “Axe the Tax” backfired on the Dippers and they have only themselves to blame for it. I am disappointed the Greens didn’t get at least a couple of seats. The greatest letdown was the rejection of STV.
I think electoral reform is doomed when you put it to the public as a “take it or leave it” proposition. If, instead, the public was allowed to take it for a test drive it might be different. If a ‘yes’ vote meant that the system would be introduced for the next two, not more than three elections at the end of which there would be another vote to either confirm the new system or revert to the old FPTP, I think the public would be far less hesitant to support reform.
Very interesting propositional or electoral reform. I like it. Unfortunately it seems as though electoral reform is dead, at least for the next while.