Environment, resources & sustainability

The unintended consequences of massive hydro rate increases

Mar 22, 2016
By
The Province newspaper recently published an op-ed of mine that looked at one of the unintended consequences of our provincial government’s fixation on building the exceedingly expensive Site C hydroelectric dam. Even though actual construction of the dam has yet to begin, BC Hydro customers are already paying far more for electricity than they were just a… View Article

BC government’s spin cycle on LNG

Mar 15, 2016
By
Last year, we made freedom of information requests to the BC government about two CCPA-BC studies: A Clear Look at LNG by David Hughes (released May 26) and LNG and Employment in BC by myself (released July 28). Both reports poke holes in extravagant claims being made by the BC government about natural gas supplies, environmental impacts, and economic benefits of… View Article

Don’t believe the hype on BC’s carbon tax

Mar 2, 2016
By
The other day, I saw two new examples of breathless praise for BC’s carbon tax, and how it has been wonderful for the province economically and environmentally. Here’s the New York Times: [T]he most important takeaway for American skeptics is that the policy basically worked as advertised. British Columbia’s economy did not collapse. In fact,… View Article

Reducing poverty and carbon emissions: lessons from Manitoba

Feb 26, 2016
By
I often get asked about alternatives to our fossil-fuelled status quo. In recent years, there have been many new projects that point to the way forward, that get beyond vague statements about reducing carbon emissions and boosting clean energy. Our CCPA-BC office held a conference last year to examine new approaches to good and green jobs…. View Article

Methane emissions from fracking: clean LNG’s dirty secret

Feb 25, 2016
By
The proposed Woodfibre LNG plant near Squamish is an example of what has been called “clean LNG” – that is, the plant will use grid electricity from BC Hydro to power the energy-intensive liquefaction process, instead of gas. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly for this one part of the supply chain. The Woodfibre… View Article

Petronas’ Pacific NorthWest LNG: profile of a carbon bomb

Feb 23, 2016
By
I submitted the following in response to a call by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for public comments on the February 2016 draft environmental assessment of the Pacific NorthWest LNG, also commonly known as the Petronas LNG project given the lead corporate proponent. (You can make a submission too). This submission is in regards to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions… View Article

What you need to know about BC Budget 2016

Feb 16, 2016
By
“The measure of any society is reflected in the degree to which it is willing to help the most vulnerable.” Mike de Jong in the BC Budget 2016 Speech If this is the measure we apply to Budget 2016, then BC is failing miserably. What this budget offers to BC’s most vulnerable is a drop in the bucket…. View Article

How Canada’s WTO “victory” on food labelling undermines BC’s local food efforts

Feb 3, 2016
By
In December Canada once again made international headlines by defeating the Americans at the World Trade Organization, and, paradoxically, made it harder to promote and protect British Columbia’s agrifood sector.  After a seven-year dispute, the United States was forced to repeal legislation requiring country of origin labelling (COOL) for muscle cuts of beef and pork. The… View Article

Admitting a post-Paris truth: BC’s LNG pipe dream is over

Dec 28, 2015
By
Since the signing of the new climate treaty in Paris earlier this month, there’s been plenty of debate as to whether the new global agreement is a turning point or merely more hollow promises. The answer, as the CCPA’s Marc Lee has written, will be revealed in how governments and markets react. In particular, the… View Article