There is a supposedly Chinese proverb that goes:
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Well, I'd like to modify that adage to preface my take on the New Brunswick government's recent decision to not follow through with a rebate of the 8% tax which every New Brunswick household pays on their home heating bill.
"Give a New Brunswicker a rebate of the 8% tax paid on home heating and you've reduced his/her bill by 8% for one year. Teach a New Brunswicker that if he/she spends some money to increase the energy efficiency of his/her home, he/she will reduce his/her home heating bill by at the very least 10% a year for at least the next twenty years and reinforce this lesson by rebating 20% of the amount he/she spends on improvements to home energy efficiency."
See details at http://www.efficiencynb.ca
(For the one out of three New Brunswick households who do not own their home, their landlord can claim the rebate. And for those New Brunswickers whose total family income is less $25,000, the household may apply for a $100 rebate. See details at The New Brunswick Home Energy Assistance Program )
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There is little New Brunswickers can do about the cost of energy to heat their homes.
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There are many things New Brunswickers can do to decrease heat loss in their homes.
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The best way to reduce the cost of home heating energy is to reduce the amount necessary to heat your home.
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Now really, how important was the 8% rebate you supposedly "lost"?
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Each heating season, you're losing more than 8% from your energy inefficient home!
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Now the New Brunswick government is giving you an extra financial incentive to reduce your home heating consumption.
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Isn't it obvious rebating the 8% tax does nothing to address wasteful energy consumption?
Addressing waste is what I expect from good government.
