British Columbia
From ClimateNetworkWiki
British Columbia is the home province of the Network.
Contents |
Goals
The February 13, 2007 Speech from the Throne set out many of the major climate change commitments made by the B.C. Liberal government.
At the Union of British Columbia Municipalities[1] conference on September 26th, 2007 the government announced that many municipalities had agreed to go carbon neutral by 2012.[2] The agreement is called the Climate Action Charter.
In November of 2007 the government introduced Bill 44, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act, to the legislature.[3] The bill commits B.C. to 33% reductions by 2020 from a 2007 baseline, and 80% reductions by 2050. The bill will also require hat all Public Service Organizations (including health, universities, and some crown corporations) will go carbon neutral by 2010. Finally, the Greenhouse Gas Reductions Target Act established the Climate Action Team (see Governance) section).[4]
The B.C. 2008 Speech from the Throne included a host of initiatives from the creation of a climate trust to a Youth Climate Alliance.
Governance
The government has established a Climate Action Secretariat[5] to coordinate the development of the government's climate change strategy.
The government has formed a Climate Action Team[6] to set interim targets for the goal of reducing B.C's emission 33% by 2020 from 2006 levels and develop strategies to help meet those targets.
Practices
The BC government has released a BC Climate Action Plan.
- The LiveSmartBC is designed to reduce personal emissions.
- The BC Climate Action Toolkit for Communities is a great resource for municipalities.
- The BC Energy Plan commits to meeting the projected growth in energy demand through conservation and new generation capacity that will have zero net greenhouse gas emissions.
- The carbon tax shift is designed to shift taxes from things we like, income, to things we don't like, GHG emissions.
- Numerous tax savings have been announced for purchases that will reduce GHG emissions.
This section needs to be expanded in each of the Solutions areas.
Causes and Consequences
Causes
- BC's GHG Emissions
- Detailed information on BC Electricity GHG Intensity
Consequences
- Climate change is having significant impacts on BC. The most visible and shocking impact is the pine beetle infestation. The BC government has a summary of the impacts and links to other resources on the impacts of climate change in BC.
Civic and Media Responses
Praise
The government's targets and initiative have been praised by scientists[7] and environmentalists[8]. Environmental organizations have been noteably active in publicly defending and supporting the carbon tax policy.[9]
Critique
There is ongoing controversy over the continuation of projects such as the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and oil and gas exploration which will increase GHG emissions in B.C.[10].
The Pembina Institute has released a critique of the BC government's strategy-to-date on November 14th, 2007. Read the report:Mind the Gap. The Globe and Mail also wrote an article on the report:BC Set to Miss Targets
Critical media
- Falling Short on Climate Change, November 21st, 2007 the the Tyee, reporting on the Pembina Institute's Mind the Gap report.
- Climate Fix, Who Plans, Who Pays?, December 3rd, 2007, the Tyee, reporting on the announcement of a B.C. Climate Action Team, with a particular focus on the lack of labour representation.[11].
