Not long after B.C.’s carbon tax was introduced back in July 2008, Vancouver realtor Bonnie Bryant and her husband bought a Prius.

“We probably were leaning that way (toward a hybrid) but not hugely,” Bryant said Wednesday, adding the prospect of rising gas prices from the carbon tax changed their outlook as they sought to replace their Honda Accord.

“This (the carbon tax) would have been the push.”

A study released Wednesday by Ottawa-based think-tank Sustainable Prosperity shows that Bryant and her husband are not alone in curbing their fuel consumption as a result of the now-five-year-old tax.

“What we’ve seen in British Columbia is a dramatic reduction in fuel use since the carbon tax came in without any adverse effects on the economy,” said the study’s lead author, Stewart Elgie, a professor of law and economics at University of Ottawa.

“B.C. now has the lowest (per capita) fuel use in Canada, the lowest income tax in Canada and a strong economy,” he added.

“In a nutshell, B.C.’s experience shows it’s possible to have a cleaner environment without harming the economy.”

Bryant said she and her husband now use about 3.17 fewer litres of gas for every 100 kilometres they drive. Given the two put about 15,000 to 20,000 kilometres on the car each year, that spells a noticeable savings.

“That’s huge,” she said, calling the switch one of the “best decisions” they ever made.

Wednesday’s report found that B.C.’s per capita fuel consumption fell by 17.4 per cent from July 1, 2008, when the revenue neutral carbon tax was launched, to July 1, 2012.

Over the same period, consumption of similar fuels rose 1.5 per cent across the rest of the country.

The study also found that over the same time, B.C.’s gross domestic product kept pace with the rest of the country.

Elgie said that means the tax did not harm the economy, and that B.C.’s reduction in fuel use was not due simply to a drop in economic activity.

“We can’t say with confidence the carbon tax is causing 100 per cent of the change — that will take more time and more rigorous analysis — but at this point we can say the carbon tax is probably causing most of the change we’re seeing,” he said.

Elgie’s findings will be published in the next edition of the journal Canadian Public Policy, but were released Wednesday to coincide with the first day the country’s premiers were to come together at the Council of the Federation in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Those meetings will cover a variety of topics, but are set to include discussion on a national energy strategy.

Environment Minister Mary Polak told reporters in Victoria that other jurisdictions, including other provinces, may look to follow B.C.’s lead.

“There are jurisdictions around us that are interested in pricing carbon,” she said. “Many of them are having discussions with their industrial partners right now to evaluate what type of a price they ought to be approaching and what the amount would be.”

Polak reiterated her government’s commitment to freeze the carbon tax at its current rate of $30 per tonne for five years to allow other jurisdictions to catch up.

New Democratic Party environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert said the province should move to expand the scope of the carbon tax, as the NDP proposed in its election platform.

“If it’s working, if it’s good for the economy and it’s helping cut climate change emissions, we should be taking the next step and making sure that sectors that have not been covered by the carbon tax through process emissions are brought in,” he said.

“It’s not fair for the public to have to pay for climate change emissions and let a few big polluting organizations, like some of the big oil and gas companies, get away with paying nothing to pollute.”

jfowlie@vancouversun.com

ticrawford@vancouversun.com