So why wait until then to do something about it, but thanks for helping make my point.
Well I think we are doing something about it, ie: companies researching and developing EV technology and renewable energy etc. Governments can help fund or give tax breaks etc for r&d and all sorts of incentives, but these are nudges, not enough to make a critical mass of people start seriously changing their behaviour enough to make a significant difference.
Whether Canada has a carbon tax or not won't have much impact on AGW. The tax would have to be much higher for enough people to start significantly changing their behaviour, and would have to be implemented in enough countries to make a dent. Carbon taxes that high would screw up economies, which is why it's not being done. Hence, we're in the effed situation we find now.
And oh btw, oil companies make prices skyrocket regardless of supply. Politics can do the same which is why the price of gas in YVR is ~$1.71 right now.
Oil companies and OPEC etc set the price of oil/gas to what people are willing to pay. It would be good for the environment if they set the price of oil/gas high so that people will be more likely to switch to EVs, hybrids etc., but of course they would lose business so would never do that. Governments can raise the price of gas, it's just going to make things more expensive until technology catches up & degrade our international trade competitiveness.
I'm a pessimist on whether governments can fix this problem (i'm not anti-government for its own sake, they helped phase out CFC's, sometimes they can make a big difference, i just think this is a much different & infinitely more complex problem). I'm an optimist on whether the super smart people in the private sector can fix AGW.
We survived the ozone holes, acid rain, african killer bees, the cold war & mutually assured destruction, H1N1, Ebola, SARS, Y2K, and every other doomsday scenario, almost all thanks to science & tech. We need to chillax.