Liberal BC Government turning green

Liberal BC Government turning green



Feb 2007 - 
The Liberal government of British Columbia is turning green. 
In an overarching strategy revealed Tuesday, the government 
pledged to combat global warming by cutting back on greenhouse 
gas emissions from industry, government buildings, cars and 
homes. 
In the speech from the throne that introduces each new 
legislative session, the government said it will work to cut 
greenhouse gas emissions by at least 33 percent below current 
levels by 2020. That target will place emissions 10 percent 
below 1990 levels. 
After watching provincial greenhouse gas emissions increase by 
35 percent since 1994, the government is opting for immediate 
action. "The science is clear. It leaves no room for 
procrastination," the government said. 
"Climate change is real, and British Columbians are telling us 
we must do more as a government and as individuals," said B.C. 
Premier Gordon Campbell. "We will act to stem the growth of 
global warming and minimize the impacts already unleashed by 
establishing targets and actions and by working with our 
national and international neighbors." 
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell welcomes B.C. Lieutenant Governor 
Iona Campagnolo to the Parliament Building, where she 
delivered the Speech from the Throne. 
On the way to the 2020 target, said the government in the 
throne speech, a Climate Action Team will set interim targets 
for 2012 and 2016 and a longer-term emissions reduction target 
for 2050. 
The Climate Action Team will also be asked to identify 
"practicable options and actions" for making the government of 
B.C. carbon neutral within four years - by 2010. 
Seismic upgrades at the Parliament Buildings will include new 
standards of energy efficiency. 
The provincial government said it will work with the federal 
government and Pacific states to develop a "sensible, 
efficient system to register, trade, and purchase carbon 
offsets and credits." 
All electricity produced in B.C. will be required to have net 
zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2016, the government 
promised. 
"These measures will demand new personal commitment, new 
investments and new funding," said B.C. Lieutenant Governor 
Iona Campagnolo, delivering the speech from the throne. "The 
cost of climate change is directly related to our 
consumption." 
The Sierra Club of B.C. welcomed the measures to combat the 
province's rising greenhouse gas emissions. “We congratulate 
the province for recognizing the urgency of the science and 
also that battling global warming can be an economic 
opportunity,” said Campaigns Director Lisa Matthaus. 
"I'm very encouraged by this," said broadcaster, author and 
environmentalist David Suzuki. "I have great hopes for it." 
Generating Climate Neutral Power 
Effective immediately, British Columbia will become the first 
jurisdiction in the world to require 100 percent carbon 
sequestration for any coal-fired electricity project. 
Sequestration is a new technology in which greenhouse gases 
are injected underground or beneath the ocean. 
Today British Columbia's has no coal-fired power plants. 
About 90 percent of the province's electricity comes from 
hydropower, which does not emit greenhouse gases. The rest is 
generated by three natural gas-fueled power plants. 
The Shrum power station at the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace 
River is B.C.'s single largest electricity source, supplying 
around 25 percent of provincial demand. 
But last July, the province's Crown-owned electric utility, BC 
Hydro, awarded contracts to two proposed coal-fired power 
plants in Tumbler Ridge and Princeton that would be the first 
in the province. If these projects proceed, they would emit 
greenhouse gases. 
In its roadmap for new climate regulations, the government 
said that greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas 
industry will be reduced to 2000 levels by 2016, including a 
zero-flaring requirement at producing wells and production 
facilities. 
At the same time, the province is attempting to market its oil 
and gas resources to the world. At the end of January, Energy 
Minister Richard Neufeld attended the huge NAPE international 
oil and gas conference in Houston, Texas. 
B.C. Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Richard 
Neufeld in exhibit hall at NAPE. 
Neufeld was promoting the interior basins of British Columbia 
as the "New Frontier" for oil and gas development. 
In its new legislative plan, the government announced a new 
$25 million Innovative Clean Energy Fund to encourage the 
commercialization of alternative energy solutions such as 
bioenergy, geothermal energy, tidal, run-of-the river, solar, 
and wind power. 
Legislation will be developed to phase in requirements for 
methane capture at landfills, the source of about nine percent 
of B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions. 
Cleaning Up Automotive Transport 
Following California's lead, the B.C. government said it will 
establish a low-carbon fuel standard that will reduce "carbon 
intensity" of all passenger vehicles by at least 10 percent by 
2020. 
Traffic in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's third largest 
city. 
Tailpipe emission standards for all new vehicles sold in B.C. 
will be phased in between 2009 and 2016, reducing carbon 
dioxide emissions from autos by 30 percent. 
The provincial government intends to work with its neighbors 
to create electrified truck stops to reduce idling, which 
emits greenhouse gases and other air toxics. 
Beginning this month, all new cars leased or purchased by the 
province will be hybrids, and for ordinary car buyers, the 
$2,000 sales tax exemption on new hybrid vehicles will be 
extended. 
A federal-provincial partnership will invest C$89 million for 
hydrogen fueling stations and the world’s first fleet of 20 
fuel cell buses, the government said. The new fueling stations 
are part of the initial phase of the hydrogen highway from 
Whistler Mountain to Vancouver, Surrey, and the provincial 
capital of Victoria. 
The provincial government will reach across the border in 
cooperation with Pacific states to encourage what is planned 
to be the longest hydrogen highway in the world - from 
Whistler to San Diego - by 2020. 
Greener Homes and Buildings 
A new unified B.C. Green Building Code will be developed with 
industry and communities, the government pledged, and new 
incentives will be offered to retrofit existing homes and 
buildings to make them energy efficient. 
Typical wood-framed houses in Vanouver often leak heat through 
roofs, doors and windows. 
New measures will help homeowners undertake "energy audits" to 
identify possible energy savings, and the government plans 
"real-time, in-home smart metering" to help homeowners measure 
and reduce energy consumption. 
New strategies will be launched to promote greener 
universities, colleges, hospitals, schools, prisons, ferries, 
and airports. 
"Over the next year, the province will consider the range of 
possibilities aimed at encouraging personal choices that are 
environmentally responsible," Campagnolo said in the throne 
speech. "The province will explore ways to encourage shifts in 
behavior that reduce carbon consumption through tax savings." 
A new Citizen’s Conservation Council will be established and 
funded, the government promised. 
The province will ensure that school curricula will inform 
students of ways that they can reduce individual impacts on 
the environment at home and at work. 
In the Forests 
The throne speech promised that the province will 
"substantially increase" its tree-planting efforts. 
The conical beehive burners that burn woody waste biomass from 
lumbering operations will be eliminated. 
Several new Class A parks and conservancies will be 
established and existing ones expanded. 
Changes will be introduced to strengthen forest stewardship 
and reduce forest fire risk. 
Actions will be taken to improve forest health, encourage 
better utilization of beetle-killed timber and salvage fiber, 
and strengthen actions against those who damage the province's 
forest or range resources. 
Neighborly Cooperation 
This spring, the provincial government will invite all Pacific 
Coast governors and key ministers to British Columbia to forge 
a new Pacific Coast Collaborative extending from Alaska to 
California. 
Premier Campbell will meet with governors to assess and 
address the impact of climate change on oceans and establish 
common standards for Pacific ports. 
The province will seek federal cooperation to electrify ports 
and reduce container ship carbon emissions in all Canadian 
ports. 
The Critics Weigh In 
There was plenty of criticism of the Liberals' new green 
trend. The New Democratic Party's Opposition Leader Carole 
James called the plan "hot air" and called for an all-party 
Climate Change Committee of the Legislature to consult with 
British Columbians and recommend greenhouse gas emission 
reduction targets before the end of the spring legislative 
session. 
Opposition Leader Carole James represents the New Democratic 
Party. 
James said there must be no conventional coal fired energy 
production in the province. 
She said the government should "aggressively expand" tax 
incentives for hybrid, alternative fuel and fuel efficient 
automobiles and trucks. The government plan extends the $2,000 
tax incentive but does not expand it. 
James called on Premier Campbell to drop his opposition to the 
Kyoto Protocol, which Canada has ratified. 
She wants the Liberals to work with the New Democrat 
Opposition to pass a unanimous motion in the Legislature 
"demanding the federal government develop a plan to implement 
Canada’s national Kyoto obligations in a fair and economically 
achievable way." 
"Gordon Campbell has stood in the way of a national plan since 
2001,” said James. “But he knows that long-term emission 
reductions can only be achieved with a national plan that 
recognizes the economic and social differences between 
provinces and provides funding to support the technological 
changes we must make." 
The NDP has 33 seats in the Legislative Assembly, while the 
Liberals hold 46 seats. 
B.C. Conservative Leader, Wilf Hanni said his party, which 
currently holds no seats in the Legislature, would pass 
legislation calling for automobile emissions to be reduced to 
1990 levels by 2025, a reduction of about 30 percent.

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