Shouldn’t we be taxing what we want to change?

MP Mike Morrice is calling for a windfall profits tax on fossil fuel companies, to extend the Canada Recovery Dividend to include “excess” fossil fuel profits. “If the tax was applied to fossil fuel producers, Morrice says the resulting revenue could be used to address the climate crisis and improve affordability for Canadians, namely through investments in public transit, retrofitting buildings, and greening the electricity grid.”

In 1993, Paul Hawken wrote an interesting article, entitled 12 steps society can take to save the whole enchilada. In it, he argues that the present tax system sends the wrong messages to virtually everyone, encourages waste, discourages conservation, and rewards consumption. It taxes what we want to encourage—jobs, creativity, payrolls, and real income—and ignores the things we want to discourage—degradation, pollution, and depletion. [insert copy of the article here]

At this stage in the polycrisis, perhaps governments should be re-evaluating all their instruments and whether or not they are contributing to a regenerative society or an unsustainable one?