The provincial government’s continued focus on LNG in its 2016-17 budget has left environmentalists frowning.
Tim Pearson with the Sierra Club of BC calls Tuesday’s budget a disappointment. “We’ve got a budget that kicks the climate can down the road yet again. We see growing emissions, we see a failure to invest in genuinely clean renewable energy and failing to act in any meaningful way of climate adaptation and food security.”
The environmental group says the province needs to pull back on LNG and the Site C dam and allow for the private sector to invest in wind, geothermal and solar.
“If you look at the Petronas project that would happen in Kitimat.” Pearson said “If that was built, that project alone would mean BC will have no chance of meeting its 2050 target for reduced emissions.”
The Canadian Wind Energy Association has recently pulled out of BC, meanwhile the Innergex Nulki Hills wind farm project near Vanderhoof remains stalled while it awaits clean power RFP’s from BC Hydro.
The Sierra Club says that demonstrates Site C is squeezing out cleaner energy alternatives. Pearson added the return on investment in terms of jobs generated is much higher for technologies such as solar or wind as opposed to natural gas.
“With each passing year, I find I’m running out of ways to say there’s nothing in the budget for the environment and the climate.”