The green stuff

Now that the Conservatives are legally locked into Kyoto, researchers on both sides of the climate change debate are starting to look at the real costs attached to implementing it.

It would cost $100 billion over the next four years under a Robin Hood style plan by Friends of the Earth and Corporate Knights magazine that would tax fossil fuels and invest the profits in green energy.

Okay, that sounds like a lot. But it would only mean $20 dollars a week for an average Canadian family, the report says.

There are approximately 32,623,490 Canadians, according to the last survey by Statistics Canada.

That works out to $1.47 per person per week -- less than a cup of coffee at Tim Horton's.

The Stern report predicts the long term costs associated with climate change due to rising sea levels, increases in extreme weather events, negative health effects and displaced people. In comparison, it seems that less than a toonie a week per person is a wise economic investment.

But Baird and his Conservative government continue to deny the possibility of a carbon tax system.

They won't accept this plan to invest in combating climate change. Instead, they continue to invest in the destructive oil sands and watch the tab for climate change grow.