I’m writing in response to the letter, “Losing your cool over heating costs.” It’s worth reminding people that if they use electricity to power their homes they won’t pay the carbon tax.
Further, since BC Hydro emits only 15 g of CO2e per kilowatt-hour (a) of electricity you use you’ll have much less impact on the climate compared to burning the equivalent amount of fossil gas from FortisBC. Burning gas in B.C. emits almost 12 times more CO2 (b) than using electricity.
If you take advantage of the many rebates and grants available to convert your home’s energy use from fossil fuels to, say, an electric air-source heat pump you’ll use even less energy overall. Hot water heaters are now available with heat pumps as well.
The best way to save money on energy is to stop burning fossil fuels. This is the point of forcing people to pay for their pollution. Given what we know about climate change this is a change that everyone will have to make soon. As always, I am happy to talk to people about climate change. You can find my contact information at UVic online.
Ed Wiebe
Saanich