With or without a carbon tax, we're paying a hefty price for excess fuel consumption

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Gas prices in New Brunswick have been falling again, meaning that motorists in Riverview will get a bit more relief when they go to fill up. That relief helps to block out the fact that we're still paying well over a dollar a litre, which four years ago would have meant a crisis in most households.

Not that the effects of rising gas prices aren't felt in this region, especially during the tourist season, but we've learned to adapt. Whether by downgrading to more fuel-efficient cars, taking public transit more often, or just cutting out unnecessary trips, we're learning to manage.

It's like a trial run for carbon tax, or any other mesaure taken to reduce fuel consumption. The exact amount of the price increase exacted by the dreaded tax depends on who is spouting the figures, but we can all agree that it can't be much more of a jump than we've seen in the past five years.

If we can handle paying almost 50% more for gas in 2008 (regularly about $1.20 per litre) than we did in 2004 (somewhere around $0.85 per litre), why are we afraid to do so when the excess cash goes into the country's coffers rather than the oil company's?

The idea behind a carbon tax is a little like the idea behind a 'swear jar'. With a swear jar, you tax yourself by putting money into the jar every time you use foul language. With a carbon tax, we do the same, only instead of a jar, we pay the tax man.

It's hard to think of trying to trim even more from an already lean budget, which is what many families find themselves doing these days. But just like people who find themselves swimming in credit card debt after making too many extravagant purchases, we are all paying the price for not tightening out belts sooner, as a nation.

It's not going to be easy, but we will need to find a better way to balance surviving financially today, and making sure that our children's generation can enjoy the quality of life we know they deserve.

The people of Riverview are known for their resiliency and innovation. We have come up with ways to better our world by supporting local farmers, implementing energy efficient measures and reducing landfill contributions, and all without ending up on the street. We might even come up with ways to make a buck while we do it.

We should be able to find ways to make living without high fuel consumption work for us, instead of clinging to old ideas that will only leave us struggling for breath when they finally collapse.