In another world, maybe we would have had a conservative party that proposed a Cap-and-Trade as an alternative to a Carbon Tax, rather than just sticking their heads in the (oil) sands. But that’s not the world we live in.
What you’re touching on is a fundamental problem with any attempts to solve carbon emissions by “market forces”, ie carbon tax or cap & trade. Those with the easiest access to capital are able to adjust their situation, such as shelling out for a BEV or heat pump. Those without can’t and need to keep their old 2002 Toyota Corolla or oil furnace until they can save up enough to replace it, which is hard because their old stuff just got more expensive to run.
At best, carbon taxes or cap & trade is only half the solution. For the heat pump thing, I’d like to see a “rent-to-own” sort of scheme. If you can install a heat pump in my home today, and save me 10% on my heating bill, great! Meanwhile, the installer “owns” the heat pump, and the difference in the discounted they offer and the actual cost of power is their take. After some time, they sign over the heat pump, and I get an even cheaper rate without the middleman. Great in theory, but I don’t trust “the market” to come up with something like this without specific legislation to support it.
But to OP’s point, I have zero trust in PP to actually meaningfully improve anything. I’m pretty sure his entire platform boils down to “it’s not perfect, so scrap everything and we’ll commission another study to find the perfect solution”. Meanwhile, do nothing.
Your “installer financed” system is sort of like what is available from some solar panel installers. I don’t know if it’s just a plain lease or rent to own, though.
In another world, maybe we would have had a conservative party that proposed a Cap-and-Trade as an alternative to a Carbon Tax, rather than just sticking their heads in the (oil) sands. But that’s not the world we live in.
What you’re touching on is a fundamental problem with any attempts to solve carbon emissions by “market forces”, ie carbon tax or cap & trade. Those with the easiest access to capital are able to adjust their situation, such as shelling out for a BEV or heat pump. Those without can’t and need to keep their old 2002 Toyota Corolla or oil furnace until they can save up enough to replace it, which is hard because their old stuff just got more expensive to run.
At best, carbon taxes or cap & trade is only half the solution. For the heat pump thing, I’d like to see a “rent-to-own” sort of scheme. If you can install a heat pump in my home today, and save me 10% on my heating bill, great! Meanwhile, the installer “owns” the heat pump, and the difference in the discounted they offer and the actual cost of power is their take. After some time, they sign over the heat pump, and I get an even cheaper rate without the middleman. Great in theory, but I don’t trust “the market” to come up with something like this without specific legislation to support it.
But to OP’s point, I have zero trust in PP to actually meaningfully improve anything. I’m pretty sure his entire platform boils down to “it’s not perfect, so scrap everything and we’ll commission another study to find the perfect solution”. Meanwhile, do nothing.
Your “installer financed” system is sort of like what is available from some solar panel installers. I don’t know if it’s just a plain lease or rent to own, though.