Carbon Tax

WHEREAS the proposed carbon tax has been applied to all areas of British Columbia contrary to the 2007 UBCM resolution calling for consideration of the appropriateness of implementing environmental sustainability initiatives on a unilateral basis; AND WHEREAS rural British Columbians will be most severely impacted by the carbon tax due to the lack of alternative methods of transportation and the dramatically colder temperatures in the interior of British Columbia requiring the consumption of substantially more fossil fuels for both transportation and to heat homes than is experienced in the lower mainland and Vancouver Island regions, resulting in an inequitable distribution of the costs of this initiative: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government defer the imposition of a carbon tax until such time as an equitable application of the tax can be developed that creates an incentive for all British Columbians rather than a penalty for rural British Columbians.