B.C.'s new climate plan criticized for lack of caps on LNG extraction

B.C. has released its latest plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but environmental group Sierra Club says it’s a problem that the plan doesn’t put a cap on liquefied natural gas fracking.

B.C. has released its latest plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but environmental group Sierra Club says it’s a problem that the plan doesn’t put a cap on liquefied natural gas fracking.

On Monday, Premier John Horgan and Environment Minister George Heyman presented the plan alongside corporate leaders of a renewable energy company and a shipping company.

The CleanBC Roadmap is an update to the province’s existing plans, and sets a goal of reaching the Paris emissions reduction targets for 2030, and net-zero emissions by 2050. The announcement comes ahead of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in the U.K., which B.C. officials will attend.

"The CleanBC Roadmap puts greater focus on transitioning away from fossil fuels faster and adopting clean energy solutions,” Heyman said.

“It strengthens B.C.'s position to attract investment and build opportunity for British Columbians.”

The new plan increases taxes on carbon emissions, requires any new industrial projects to prove they can have net zero emissions by 2050, and requires that all new buildings have net zero carbon emissions by 2030. It also includes an “accelerated shift” towards alternative transportation methods – which means more investment in public transit.

It also includes a bigger push towards electric vehicles – which includes a goal of 10,000 public EV charging stations by 2030, that the only new cars sold in B.C. in 2035 are zero-emission, and that there are enough fast-charging stations so that EV users can drive on all B.C. highways, big and small, without running out of battery power.