Introduction
British Columbia has positioned itself as a leaderin tackling global warming. Yet the province’snatural environment and climate leadership arebeing threatened from beyond its borders by thefederal government’s desire for unrestrainedgrowth in Alberta’s tar sands.Ottawa is poised to make several key decisionsthat will have a significant impact on B.C.. Afteryears of false starts and loophole-ridden climatepolicy, it appears that the federal governmentis finally being forced to adopt a real cap andtrade system as a result of President Obama’scommitment to U.S. action on the issue. Thismeans that Canada will need to put a hard cap,or limit, on the amount of global warmingpollution from industry. This also throws intoquestion the future of regional programs likethe Western Climate Initiative, as Washingtonand Ottawa both move to adopt national systems.There are reports that the government isseeking to protect the tar sands industry fromhaving to make serious emissions cuts
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. Thetar sands are the fastest growing source ofgreenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Specialtreatment for the tar sands industry could comeat the expense of other industrial sectors andprovinces such as B.C. A biased system couldhave economic consequences for B.C. by forcingindustries in the province to do more than theirfair share to reduce emissions.Furthermore, the federal government is beingasked to approve Enbridge’s proposed NorthernGateway pipeline, a massive new tar sands pipe-line that would end at an oil tanker port inKitimat. En route, the oil would cross B.C.’spristine wilderness, including 1,000 streamsand rivers, many of which are important forsalmon spawning. It would then send super-tankers into B.C. coastal fjords to carry 525,000barrels of tar sands oil a day through B.C. toAsia and the U.S. An accident would destroyour coast for generations. This pipeline wouldalso allow the tar sands to expand, and theextra half million barrels a day will cause theglobal warming equivalent of 1.6 million newcars on the road every year.And this is only the tip of the iceberg. A secondmajor pipeline is being contemplated along asimilar route and CN Rail is now talking aboutshipping tar sands through B.C. to the coastat Prince Rupert for export to Asia and the U.S..
In a nutshell, the federal government couldmake decisions that hurt B.C.’s economy,threaten our salmon and coast, and make theprovince an accomplice in the expansion of themost destructive project on earth, the tar sands.
It’s time for the B.C. government, businessesand others to stick up for B.C.’s interests andengage the federal government on these bigdecisions. Our clean energy economy dependson it.
TARnishing our Climate Effort:
Dirty Oil and the Future of B.C.
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