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Readers write back:
Drew Steeves of Springhill, N.S., on March 29 wrote: I believe a carbon tax is a means to reduce emissions with appropriate regulation and incentives.
An option for revenues from carbon taxes is to shift taxes from earnings (personal and corporate) to taxing energy. This shift would prompt everyone in society and business to reexamine their energy footprint and restructure society to be as energy-efficient as technology will allow.
I recognize that personal transportation is important and convenient, but as a society we will want to create locations that allow people to live in urban areas without the need for a vehicle. I think of my student days when I lived and worked in a limited geographical area but had all my needs met. The area was walking-centic. For planning purposes, vehicles were a lower priority than pedestrians for design choices for roads and walkways. This created a situation where it was easier to walk than drive. Creating urban centres areas that do the same creates a more sustainable society.
Nadim Kara of Ottawa on March 30 wrote: I enjoyed this article immensely, and agree that a truly sustainable society is one in which we make every effort to understand how individual action in one part of the world impacts people and places around the globe.
While this principle is clearly understood by those involved with the climate change debate, I am struck by how little mainstream attention is given to a similar principle with respect to the human rights impacts that occur in various commodity chains.
While journalists and activists have called for sustained, coordinated and comprehensive action to support labour rights and protect ecoystems in a variety of commodity chains (minerals, energy, textiles, footwear, primary foodstuffs), these calls generate little action other than rhetoric.
Looks like we're willing to act on climate change, because it will negatively impact our quality of life, but not human rights, which we have the luxury of ignoring as long as our consumer goods stay cheap.
Perhaps governments should support widespread public education about that, to help generate the type of mobilization we see in support of climate change action.
Tim Flannery's climate for change
Online tips for greener highways
EnerGuide Awards recognize greenest vehicles
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