British Columbia was hailed as a global trend-setter when it instituted a continental-first carbon tax and other climate measures back in 2008. A decade and three governments later, it’s nowhere close to meeting its near-term goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by a third from 2007 levels by 2020, DeSmog Canada reports.
Figures quietly released without supporting background information just before Christmas “show B.C. emissions are only 2.1% lower than 2007, and are on the rise,” DeSmog notes.
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“What we have seen in B.C. for years is noble rhetoric about the need to confront climate change, but a lack of meaningful action,” said Sierra Club British Columbia’s Jens Wieting.
Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell introduced the original emission-cut targets. His successor, fellow Liberal Christie Clark, largely ignored the policy field, attempting a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) boom and racking up contributions to her party from fossil fuel companies instead.
DeSmog says the NDP government that replaced Clark’s last year with Green Party support now plans “to introduce a legislated target of a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030.”
A new Climate Solutions and Clean Growth Advisory Council, co-chaired by Clean Energy Canada Executive Director Merran Smith and mining executive Marcia Smith, “is advising government on how to achieve our climate objectives efficiently and effectively while growing our clean economy,” a Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy spokesperson noted.
Sierra Club B.C.’s Wieting called on the province to subject all major industrial projects to a climate impact test as part of the environmental assessment process.
