Part 3: Why you should care what Jeff Rubin thinks & winner of Part 2's giveaway
Congratulations to Randy Berg who has won the second of three autographed copies of Jeff's book. Read Part 2 of this series and his comment here. Dont forget to read Part 1 if you haven't. You too win a copy! All you have to do to be eligible is leave a comment on this post, sharing your thoughts about this issue: If you are concerned or encouraged, agree or disagree, etc. We will then randomly select a winner and send the copy. The deadline for Part 3 (this post) is next Sunday, August 30th). Hurry up though: This is the last one we are giving away!
Isabelle: It's a pretty amazing concept and it's something I hope our politicians have the guts to handle.
Jeff: Don't worry about the politicians. When oil is $ 7.00 a gallon at the pump, people will know exactly what to do. They will send the right message to the politicians. For example, I don't know why we're spending billions of dollars to pro-up the auto-industry that's due to obsolescence by triple-digit oil prices. We should be investing billions in public transit instead of putting more cars on roads.
Isabelle: If Europe can do it, we can do it, right?
Jeff: Exactly. But here's the difference. In Europe, they've already been paying those prices for the last 10 years. When we start paying those prices, we'll become European. It's all about price. When gas is $ 7.00 a gallon, people won't have to buy my book. They'll know exactly what to do.
Isabelle: Can you tell me more about the concept of Carbon tariff on imports?
Jeff: I'm just saying this: if we're going to close coal plants and pay 3 times as much for our electricity...Now I know in Montreal you're blessed with hydro-electric power but that's not the way it is for most people in North-America outside of Quebec and Manitoba who have hydro-electric. It's coal plant or gas. California doesn't allow coal plants, so their power prices are 3 times as much as Texas. But if we are going to, all of a sudden, shut coal plants around North-America and pay 3 times as much for our electricity and then find out that China is building 800 coal plants, that does not make a whole lot of sense. So what I'm saying is we can't stop China from building coal plants, but what we can do is say : "if your steel factory gets its power from coal, from dirty power, we're going to charge you a tariff so that you pay the same price for your carbon emissions as our steel producers pay for their carbon emissions. In other words, you don't gain any economic advantage by using dirty power.
Isabelle: And what are the chances that someone will stand up to China and say that?
Jeff: The chances are excellent once we start paying 3 times more for our own power to close a coal plant. Because there's no point us making economic sacrifices for the environment if they're just going to be building coal plants like mad. Again, we can't tell them what to do, but what we can do is make sure they gain no economic advantage when they trade with us by using dirty power.
Isabelle: That would certainly fix 2 problems at once: the environmental one and the unfair trade that's going on.
Jeff: Exactly. And I think that's coming. There are some big changes and some big challenges but you know, it's not all doom and gloom. At as I say at the end of the book, in many respects, the new small world around the corner may be a whole lot more livable than the big one we're about to leave behind.
Isabelle: As a parent, I must tell you that I hope you are right. And in the meantime, I'm getting myself a ZENN Car!
Jeff: Now that makes sense! That's why I say: the key is not about the Bank of Canada, the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister of Canada or the Premier of Quebec. It's not about those guys. It's about you and me and the decisions we make everyday in our lives.
Isabelle: And I think that's the most uplifting message of your entire book. Thank you very much for writing it, and thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it
Jeff: Thank you and best of luck with your website!
Tell us what you think about Jeff's theory by next Sunday, August 30th. We will then randomly select a FINAL winner who will receive an autographed copy of "Why your world is about to get a whole lot smaller."
Image source: China Digital Times
