• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta June 29, 2022
London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty June 29, 2022
G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance June 29, 2022
Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ For Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use June 26, 2022
BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December June 19, 2022
Next
Prev
Home Demand & Distribution Buildings

Dauncey: ‘Timid’ B.C. Intention Papers Do Little to Boost Climate Action

August 28, 2018
Reading time: 2 minutes

BC NDP/Flickr

BC NDP/Flickr

 

With its recently-published series of “intention papers” on clean growth, British Columbia’s government is showing too much timidity and not enough initiative to counter the fear and cynicism that have begun to accumulate in response to the climate crisis, renewable energy veteran Guy Dauncey writes, in a blog post subsequent republished by The Tyee.

The intention papers “contain little that is new,” Dauncey charges, “and by downplaying the climate crisis almost to a state of mental non-existence, they have written the urgency out of the picture.” That omission is “crazy”, he adds, given the scope of the climate impacts that have been visible to all this summer.

Dauncey praises the Horgan government’s “determined stand so far” against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but declares its plans for liquefied natural gas (LNG) development particularly grievous. B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2015 stood at 63.3 million tonnes (Mt) a year and were rising, and its climate plan sets a target of 38 Mt by 2030—but the mammoth LNG Canada project at Kitimat and the Woodfibre facility near Squamish will boost emissions by eight to 12 Mt per year.

Rather than trying to square that circle, Dauncey calls for a legally-mandated annual carbon budget, supported by renewable energy targets of 50% for 2030 and 100% by 2040. “We don’t need to know in detail how to get there,” he states.  “Take technology, add innovation and resources, add determination, stir until ready.”

Dauncey makes a similar case for a 95% reduction in the province’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. “As progress gathers steam, as people gain confidence that it’s possible and awareness about the climate reality sinks in, we could advance the goal to 2035,” he predicts.

Noting that transportation, buildings, and industry together account for 89% of the province’s emissions, Dauncey urges the province to mandate that “all new cars be EVs by 2025…not by 2040 as the intention paper proposes,” and to invest heavily in bicycle infrastructure and transit. He says the government documents signal virtually zero intent to address either.

Turning to buildings, he recommends that “all new buildings be zero-carbon by 2024,” noting that the relevant intentions paper “simply restates the current goal that most new construction will need to be ‘net zero energy-ready’ by 2032, which is code (one hopes) for zero carbon.” The problem here, he contends, is that “the building industry has been whining about change, and the B.C. government and some ENGOs have bought into it.”

Turning to industrial emissions, Dauncey calls for a climate test for all new projects and a zero-carbon target by 2040. He does credit the province’s industry intention paper for “wisely” recommending that a portion of carbon tax revenue “be used in a Clean Industry Fund to help industry reduce its emissions, in the form of incentives.”

He also points to province-wide public involvement as an essential piece of the puzzle. Nowhere, he writes, do the intention papers contain “any mention of public education and engagement, the absence of which is the primary reason why climate indifference and denial have been able to spread, casting dust and delay into the debate.” What’s needed above all, he stresses, is emphasis on positive solutions.



in Buildings, Canada, Ending Emissions, Energy Politics, Oil & Gas, Pipelines / Rail Transport, Sub-National Governments, Transit, Walking & Biking

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Keith Hirsche
Jobs & Training

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
346
London Eye UK England
Cities & Communities

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
103
Number 10/flickr
International Agencies & Studies

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
116

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Keith Hirsche

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta

June 29, 2022
346
François GOGLINS/wikimedia commons

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors

June 29, 2022
131
David/flickr

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B

June 26, 2022
1.2k
Number 10/flickr

G7 Miss ‘Golden Opportunity’, Walk Back Pledge to Cut International Fossil Finance

June 29, 2022
116
London Eye UK England

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 29, 2022
103
Danielle Scott/flickr

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413

June 29, 2022
87

Recent Posts

AJEL / Pixabay

Windfall Tax on Food, Fossil, Pharma Giants Would Raise $490B to Solve ‘Catastrophic’ Food Crisis: Oxfam

June 29, 2022
48
futureatlas.com/flickr

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks

June 29, 2022
72
Province of B.C./flickr

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations

June 29, 2022
58
/Piqsels

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments

June 29, 2022
25
Jimmy Emerson, DVM/flickr

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds

June 29, 2022
29
Miguel V/Wikimedia Commons

Forests Fall Short of Full Carbon Storage Potential, Study Finds

June 29, 2022
46
Next Post
Mriya/Wikipedia

Australia’s Climate Battles Hold Parallels with U.S., Portents for Canada

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}