Critics question BC’s growing fossil fuel subsidies in the wake of disastrous new climate change report

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Following the release of an alarming new report on climate change which the UN Secretary-General says “must spell the end” for the fossil fuel industry, BC environmentalists ask why the province still gives billions to subsidize oil and gas producers.

On Monday, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report showing that levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are already high enough to guarantee climate change for decades. , even centuries, and that humans are “unequivocally” to blame.

These dire warnings prompted BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau to call for concrete action from the province.

“Our climate plan is not meeting our targets. This government continues to subsidize the oil and gas industry,” she said on Monday.

“We need to see urgent concerted action and a fund-backed plan to respond to climate change now.”

UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres said the IPCC findings “must spell the end of coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet”.

But according to environmental group Stand Earth, the B.C. government will provide a record $ 1.3 billion this year to subsidize the fossil fuel industry, including $ 421 million in fracking tax credits. Wells.

Tom Green, climate solutions policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation, said most British Columbians don’t realize how much the province supports the industry.

“It’s like paying someone to go around and throw gasoline on the ground in front of the fire department,” he told CBC News.

According to Clean Energy BC, about two-thirds of the energy used in the province still comes from fossil fuels. Green says time is running out to change that.

“Every ton of fossil fuels we burn, every ton of CO2 we add to the atmosphere is a ton we can no longer afford,” he said.

“An opportunity to make a difference”

In a tweet addressing the IPCC report, Prime Minister John Horgan acknowledged the obvious consequences of uncontrollable climate change in British Columbia, including recent record heat and devastating forest fires.

He touted BC’s current renewable energy plan, but added “there is much more to be done to build a cleaner economy. [and]better future that people and our planet need. “

However, he gave no indication of what other steps the province might take or when that might happen.

Since launching our CleanBC plan, we’ve moved quickly to regulate big polluters and cut emissions, set climate targets in law, and help people switch to clean energy.

But there is much more to be done to build the cleaner economy and a better future that people and our planet need.

– @ jjhorgan

Kathryn Harrison, professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, said there is little political motivation for the government to move away from subsidizing fossil fuels, despite the obvious climate consequences.

“They easily earn money from royalties from oil, gas and coal production, job creation and job creation during the four-year election cycle is a great way to be. reelected, “she said.

For Robin Cox, head of the master’s program in leadership for climate action at Royal Roads University in Victoria, the IPCC report offers some hope.

“It’s an opportunity to make a difference, to take advantage of this narrowing window to do the things we need to do to continue so that we reduce our global emissions … while preparing for the inevitable impacts,” he said. she declared.

Cox said that would mean taking “much more aggressive” measures to reduce emissions, well beyond the modest targets of previous years.

“It must be an expectation of all government funding that emission reduction is absolutely incorporated,” she said.

“The Government of British Columbia recently came out with a Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy and it is quite broad and comprehensive, but in my opinion it is nowhere near as assertive as it should be for. solve this problem.”

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