Offsetters Climate Neutral Society

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BC Carbon Tax

Q: What is the BC carbon tax?
A: As announced in the Provincial Budget on February 19th, on July 1, 2008 the BC government will institute a carbon tax of $10/tonne of GHG emissions on the sale of most fossil fuels in BC. This includes a levy of 2.62 cents/litre on all aviation fuel used for intra-jurisdictional trips (ie. flights for which both the origin and destination lie within the province). This tax will increase by $5/tonne for each of the next four years until it reaches $30/tonne in 2012.

Q: Does the new carbon tax mean that we don’t need to offset our greenhouse gas emissions any more?
A: No. The new BC carbon tax is designed to reduce fossil fuel consumption by making it more expensive, but does not allocate funds toward climate programs in general, let alone carbon offset projects. As such, actual fuel purchases in British Columbia after July 1st will not be any more “climate friendly” or “carbon neutral” than they were before.

Q: How does this affect Harbour Air’s status as the world’s only 100% “carbon neutral” airline?
A: It doesn’t. Harbour Air will still continue to purchase high quality carbon offsets from Offsetters Climate Neutral Society in order to keep its status as the world’s only carbon neutral airline.

Q: But what about the Pacific Carbon Trust announced yesterday? Isn’t the carbon tax contributing to that?
A: No. The carbon tax is not allocated to the Pacific Carbon Trust or any other specific climate program. The Pacific Carbon Trust is an offset fund being developed by the BC Government that will receive monies from government ministries and agencies that need to purchase offsets as part of their own carbon neutrality requirements starting in 2010.

Q: Are Harbour Air and the government both charging us for the same thing?
A: No. The carbon tax and Harbour Air’s Carbon Offset Levy achieve different objectives. While the carbon tax is designed to reduce consumption of fossil fuels by making it more expensive, Harbour Air’s Carbon Offset Levy generates direct, additional climate benefit by enabling renewable energy projects that would not have taken place without these contributions.

At Offsetters we wanted to make things simple by offering a flights calculator that is easy to use and by offering simple membership options. The membership options on our homepage are equal to 40%, 100% and 200% of the average emitted by individuals in North America each year.

It is also useful to know exactly where your emissions come from, especially if you want to find the best way to reduce them! We have identified a number of sites that allow you to create a detailed emissions profile.