Climate action withdrawn

The Government of British Columbia has suddenly decided to retract my Climate Action Dividend (discussed here before). Previously, they had decided to issue them to anyone who filed a provincial tax return in 2006 or 2007. Now, they are being retracted from everyone who was not a resident of BC as of December 31st, 2007. This strikes me as rather poor planning on their part. The administrative costs of re-collecting the money will form a deadweight loss, and the government will henceforth have less credibility when issuing credits of this kind.

I suppose I will need to pack up and return my compact fluorescent bulbs, returning the inefficient incandescent ones to the sockets, remove the weather stripping from my doors and windows, switch back to my old and inefficient hot water system, swap out my low-flow showerhead, partially deflate the tires on my vehicle, and rip out my new crawl space insulation… Actually, I probably directed the money towards paying down student loans.

This can be dubbed the “Oh, wait. You are probably not going to vote in the next BC election, are you?” retraction.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan