Quote:
Originally Posted by milomilo
For interest, I just looked into how much CO2 CN produces annually. I might have got it wrong, but I think it's about 5 million tons a year. That might sound like a lot, but with a $50/ton carbon tax, it's only $250M on a revenue of $15B, and they can pass it on to their customers anyway, and their competitors are trucks, who also have to pay the tax.
It's also less than a percent of Canada's emissions. Eventually, it will have to be reduced or offset, but it is not a priority. CN and CP will figure it out, all the government should do is give them predictable timelines and a level playing ground - carbon pricing.
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Now compare that with VIA Rail, which had total GHG emissions of 146,212 tons CO2-equivalents, according to its 2019 Sustainability report, thus representing an annual tax payment of $7.3 million, assuming your $50/ton carbon tax. The main driver for sustainability in the intercity passenger rail industry of this country will continue to be a modal shift away from more pollutant modes much rather than electrification (which would be an expensive solution to a - in the scale of things - negligible problem)...