In a recent report to Parliament, Desautels quoted a 1997 Gallup poll that suggested 73 percent of Canadians would accept an offer to evade taxes when buying goods and services. The idea of eco-taxes has certainly been talked about, but only a few European countries like Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have implemented any. Currently, by taxing drivers for ownership of vehicles rather than taxing their use, we are subsidizing the cost of driving AND the production of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Taxes are one of the most powerful instruments of change.
Some companies, for example, tend to view their profits as more important than the social and environmental impact of company practices. But if pollution is going to cost more than cleaning up, it's a pretty good incentive to stop polluting. It would be a very small tax, less than one percent, applied to currency transactions, and collected globally. The impact of such a tax would be astounding, as an estimated one and a half trillion dollars changes hands daily in world currency markets. Funds raised through a tax on currency speculation could fund programs to eliminate poverty globally, operate the United Nations, and clean up the environment.