English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall says she's not entirely sold on the value of consumer carbon taxes. World-renowned primatologist and climate activist Jane Goodall says carbon pricing schemes like the one Canada has deployed aren't a silver bullet to solve the pressing threat of climate change.
Industrial carbon taxes also rarely impose a huge financial burden on major energy companies, which can pay a levy and go on drilling and mining resources that are damaging to the environment, she said. She said a more effective measure would be to aggressively curtail fossil fuel extraction and their use in Canada and around the world.
The tax money is collected by Ottawa and then rebated to consumers through quarterly payments based on family size and location. The report found that carbon pricing — both the consumer and industrial versions — is projected to reduce emissions by as much as 50 per cent by 2030.The Liberal government has made the carbon tax the centrepiece of its climate change plan.
But she added she's worried about the current crop of electric vehicles, which largely rely on lithium batteries. "To me, that's one of the big problems of electric vehicles," Goodall said. "Apparently there are other ways of sourcing batteries other than lithium and that needs to be developed." The government has since introduced legislation of its own, S-15. If passed, it would prohibit the new ownership of elephants and great apes in Canada unless certain conditions are met — a measure Goodall enthusiastically supports.