The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that proponents of Alberta's carbon tax plan are hailing it as a needed step to address the emissions dilemma hanging over the province. The Globe's David Parkinson writes that critics, however, call it a revenue grab by a tax-and-spend NDP government. Mr. Parkinson says it is both. Alberta is very carbon intensive. It burns more coal for electricity generation than the rest of the country combined. It has a reputation in its only meaningful export market, the United States, as a poor environmental steward peddling a dirty product. If any province needs to make serious changes to tackle its carbon problems, Mr. Parkinson says it is Alberta. Premier Rachel Notley even said that the U.S. administration's recent rejection of TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline for Alberta oil, largely on environmental grounds, was "a major wake-up call" for the province to clean up its act. Mr. Parkinson says the carbon tax is not revenue neutral as Ms. Notley claims. He explains the proceeds of a truly revenue-neutral tax are offset by equal-sized reductions in taxes collected elsewhere, so no additional revenue goes to the government.