Today's unveiled budget will harm the BC Liberal government's reputation as a leader on climate change policies, says Ben West, spokesperson for the Wilderness Committee, a B.C.-based environmental group claiming Canada's largest membership.
In a press release, West calls the budget "alarmingly short-sighted and irresponsible. There are no new ideas here, just the outdated policy emphasis of exploiting B.C.'s resources with little regard to living up to the province's commitments to tackle climate change."
The press release continues:
"The 2012 budget includes numerous subsidies to the oil and gas sector while continuing to drastically underfund environmental oversight. Spending on highway expansion projects yet again far exceeds allocations for public transit infrastructure and service while transportation emissions continue to be the leading source of green house gas emissions in the province.
"The budget also includes an upcoming review of the carbon tax while the dollars per tonne value remains the same. No new funding or tax credits are provided for housing retrofits, green building, or the carbon neutral public sector initiative."
West concludes that "B.C. is rapidly losing its reputation as a leader in the global campaign to address the challenges of climate change."
In November The Tyee published a 10-part series produced by The Tyee Solutions Society reviewing the results of the Climate Action Plan boldly introduced five years ago by then-BC Liberal premier Gordon Campbell. The Speech from the Throne pledged, "In 2007, British Columbia will take concerted provincial action to halt and reverse the growth in greenhouse gases."
Said West today, "Our greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets have now all but disappeared, despite the fact that the people of this province still care deeply about the impacts of climate change already being felt around the world."
David Beers is editor of The Tyee.
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Van Isle
13 weeks ago
Create more debt which gives
Create more debt which gives the Government an excuse to 'sell the farm'.
Skywalker
13 weeks ago
Give him a medal.
You mean someone lied to obtain facts that would expose a group which lied to convince people that climate change was a lie? I should worry about this someone?
Sask Resident
13 weeks ago
What subsidies?
Maybe Ben West should point out what he considers the numerous subsidies to the oil and gas sector in the 2012 budget. Is a lower tax rate on the gas drilling industry a subsidy or just taking less money from them? Meanwhile, West wants the taxpayer to give his group and movement money but won't call it a subsidy. The oil and gas industry, like coal mining, give vast amounts of money to the government and to working people as wages. Who pays Ben West's salary?