BC Carbon Reduction Policy - Right and Wrong
Given the governments goal of reducing carbon emissions, the across the board carbon tax is a fairly wise move - the economy will self-organize.
Less wise, IMO are the “$1 billion over four years for energy efficiency initiatives, including funding for home energy audits and retrofits, sales tax exemptions for energy efficient appliances and vehicles, and clean fuel technologies“.
There is a huge economic incentive for companies and individuals to pay for their own energy audits and retrofits. A simple education campaign enlightening the public that “hey, you can save a pile of money” would be all thats required.
Sales tax exemptions for clean fuel, energy efficient appliances and vehicles are almost guaranteed to have the opposite of the intended effect and introduce inefficiencies in our economy,  counter the effects of the carbon tax, and almost certainly unnecessarily lower our standard of living. What is the environmental cost and carbon footprint of those subsidized batteries in your Prius? The central planners sure don’t know. The best measure of the resources your car uses over its life is the amount you spend on purchasing it and operating it. If the Prius costs less to operate over its life, without subsidies, than your Hummer, that is a good indication you are using less resources to operate it.