Attitude on carbon tax rebate defined by politics, not facts, survey suggests
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Rebates on carbon taxes haven't helped Canadians warm to them, a new survey suggests. Results published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change say that not only did rebates fail to make much difference to public opinion, Canadians don't understand them very well.
Results published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change say that not only did rebates fail to make much difference to public opinion, Canadians don't understand them very well.
And those convinced they were paying more in carbon taxes than they received remained just as convinced even when they were shown the facts.
"Partisanship had a big impact -- not just on whether people were supportive of the idea of carbon pricing, but on their perception of the facts," said co-author Kathryn Harrison of the University of British Columbia.
Harrison said she and her colleagues wanted to study whether carbon rebates -- returning money to taxpayers to offset or even exceed the amount they'd paid in carbon taxes -- would make the policy more palatable.
