Do you remember Preston Manning? Yah, that Preston Manning who created the Reformed Party of Canada which became the Alliance Party and eventually merged with the Progressive Conservatives to become today's Conservative Party of Canada. Some of us were leery of the right-wing religious leanings of the Reformed Party but Manning has always been a thoughtful evangelical Christian. He has described himself as "a great fan and imperfect follower of Jesus of Nazareth" and has studied and lectured extensively on managing the interface between faith and politics.
I was interested to see that Manning has encouraged the Conservative caucus to stop vilifying a carbon tax in Canada. A carbon tax and cap and trade are two methods for reducing emissions and making polluters pay, although they are not the same thing. Our federal government has told provinces that the former, the carbon tax will be implemented across the country. Some provinces and the Conservatives are opposed, and claim they'll develop their own programs for addressing carbon pollution. The problem is that none of them has offered an effective program of their own, and Ontario scrapped cap and trade without creating an alternative that makes a lick of sense. In fact, getting rid of cap-and-trade will cost Ontarians billions of dollars. It is ideological stupidity.
Manning said “I know all of you are wrestling with this issue and that there is considerable disagreement among conservatives on how to approach it, but hopefully this approach — focus on attacking the implementation rather than the market-based concept itself — will be helpful.”
Good for Manning. Being fiscally conservative and a conservative Christian do not require a knee-jerk opposition to programs addressing climate change. There are lots of arguments that a carbon tax can be good for business as well as good for the environment. And no matter what our religious leanings, caring for Creation is a key aspect of the biblical mandate. You can look it up!
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