Carbon tax a fair way to help us curb pollution

MM Crualaoich’s call to scrap the carbon tax (letters, Wednesday, March 16) ignores the fact we have to make the transition to cleaner, more energy efficient and sustainable economy, in a way that considers the rights to livelihoods of future generations and of the other living beings on this planet.

Many countries, including Australia, have or are introducing a carbon tax.. Prime Minister Julia Gillard justified the tax by stating: “We cannot be stranded with a high-pollution economy as the world changes.”

The same applies here in Ireland. It is costing us a staggering €6 billion annually in imported fossil fuels and we will be “stranded” in a high pollution economy if we do not take action to wean off this dangerous dependency.