Campbell's Green Plan
Tuesday's throne speech to call for emission targets to tackle global warming
Milo Cernetig
Vancouver Sun
Feb 10, 2007
CREDIT: Vancouver Sun Staff Photo
Premier Gordon Campbell is planning to launch a major
"green initiative" next week that will follow much of the
script that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has laid down
in California to combat global warming.
Premier Gordon Campbell has ordered a revamping of the province’s long-delayed energy plan to mirror California’s aggressive crackdown on greenhouse gas polluters, the Vancouver Sun is reporting.
Details of Tuesday’s throne speech are secret, but greenhouse gas issue is expected to be a part of the speech.
With between 30 and 40 per cent of B.C. greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation, Campbell is set to follow California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s example by making emissions from cars a focus of his government’s plan.
Schwarzenegger made headlines by putting aggressive limits on automobile tailpipe emissions in 2004 — in essence trying to use California’s massive market share to change the way the auto industry makes cars.
The B.C. government believes that by adopting some of California’s tough standards, it can piggyback on that state’s effort to bring more fuel-efficient cars to California and by extension, British Columbia marketplaces. The NDP tried a similar approach more than a decade ago but failed without California’s backing.
It’s still not clear what precise emission targets Campbell will set out. But California’s targets are the most ambitious in North America. They include:
• Reducing the state’s total greenhouse gases to 2000 emission levels by 2010. • Reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. • Reducing emissions to 80-per-cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
In B.C., greenhouse gas emissions soared by 30 per cent from 1990 to 2004.
The premier’s advisers are trumpeting the upcoming announcement as a policy shift as surprising as one that saw Campbell move from being a skeptic on native land claims to the man who, 18 months ago, launched a “new relationship” with aboriginals and began fast-tracking multibillion-dollar land-claim settlements.
Campbell never supported targets set out by the Kyoto accord to limit climate change, saying they were unfairly imposed. But as climate change emerged as a hot political issue in recent months, Campbell instructed his bureaucrats to come up with a model that will closely follow the path set by Schwarzenegger, once the Hummer-loving film star who as governor later embraced a green agenda that propelled him to a landslide victory in the 2006 California election.
To hammer home his commitment, Campbell plans to meet with Schwarzenegger. That is likely to result in an attempt to forge an accord for future co-operation, perhaps also involving Oregon and Washington states.
“He’s proving pretty flexible for the U-turns he makes in policy,” said University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff. “Given what the polls are telling us about the importance of the environment, he’s had to make this a major theme of his throne speech.”VICTORIA -- Premier Gordon Campbell is planning to launch a major "green initiative" next week that will follow much of the script that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has laid down in California to combat global warming.
The B.C. Liberal government, which has taken heat from environmental groups and the New Democratic Party for being too slow to take on climate change, is planning to unveil a strategy in Tuesday's throne speech that, for the first time, will support the idea of emission targets for greenhouse gases.
"Yeah, I think targets are reasonable," Campbell said in an interview, though he would not discuss the speech.
"I think we can set targets that will be impressive and you'll have to wait and see what they are.
"I think we've clearly established that voluntary activities don't particularly work," he added.
"We have to set a level playing field for everyone."
Details of the B.C. government's throne speech are a closely guarded secret. But The Vancouver Sun has learned that Campbell, realizing climate change has emerged as one of the most politically sensitive issues facing his government in the years ahead, has ordered a revamping of the province's long-delayed energy plan to mirror California's aggressive crackdown on greenhouse gas polluters.
With between 30 and 40 per cent of B.C. greenhouse gas emissions coming from transportation, Campbell is set to follow Schwarzenegger's example by making emissions from cars a major focus of his government's plan.
Schwarzenegger made international headlines by putting aggressive limits on automobile tailpipe emissions in 2004 -- in essence trying to use California's massive market share to change the way the auto industry makes cars.
The B.C. government believes that by adopting some of California's tough new standards, it can piggyback on that state's potential to bring more fuel-efficient cars to California and by extension, British Columbia marketplaces. The NDP tried a similar approach more than a decade ago but failed without California's backing.
It's still not clear what precise emission targets Campbell will set out. But California's targets are the most ambitious in North America. They include:
n Reducing the state's total greenhouse gases to 2000 emission levels by 2010.
n Reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
n Reducing emissions to 80-per-cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
In B.C., greenhouse gas emissions soared by 30 per cent from 1990 to 2004.
The premier's advisers are trumpeting the upcoming announcement as a policy shift as surprising as one that saw Campbell move from being a skeptic on native land claims to the man who, 18 months ago, launched a "new relationship" with aboriginals and began fast-tracking multibillion-dollar land-claim settlements.
Campbell never supported targets set out by the Kyoto accord to limit climate change, saying they were unfairly imposed.
But as climate change emerged as a hot political issue in recent months, Campbell instructed his bureaucrats to come up with a model that will closely follow the path set by Schwarzenegger, once the Hummer-loving film star who as governor later embraced a green agenda that propelled him to a landslide victory in the 2006 California election.
And to hammer home his commitment, Campbell is also planning to meet with Schwarzenegger in the weeks ahead. That is likely to result in an attempt to forge an accord for future cooperation, perhaps also involving Oregon and Washington states.
"He's proving pretty flexible for the U-turns he makes in policy," said University of Victoria political scientist Norman Ruff. "Given what the polls are telling us about the importance of the environment, he's had to make this a major theme of his throne speech."
The details of the B.C. government's new energy strategy, and its targets, will be outlined in an energy plan that will be introduced after the throne speech. To ensure that energy plan doesn't collect dust, Campbell also plans to set up a more centralized "climate team," mirroring California's decision to set up a climate-change team and order its Environmental Protection Agency to report regularly on the state's progress on reducing greenhouse emissions.
New Democratic leader Carole James, who has been urging the government to set greenhouse gas targets, will be outlining her party's climate change policies today in Vancouver in a speech to the NDP provincial council.
With this new environmental agenda, the Liberals clearly hope to outflank the NDP, which has identified the government's past opposition to greenhouse gas targets as one of its key policy weaknesses. But James, who this week called for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, will have some key areas to attack the Liberal plan.
One major shortcoming is that the government appears not to have made any decision about the fate of two proposed coal-fired power plants, which would be the first built in the province. Environmentalists and the NDP argue that building those plants would be a backward step and mean a major increase in B.C.'s greenhouse gas footprint.
But Campbell seems to be less than committed to the plants.
"I haven't seen the proposal for the plants," he said. "They're not even in the environmental assessment process yet ... They're not a done deal at all."
Also unclear is whether the government will put pressure on BC Hydro to be more aggressive on finding clear sources of future power. Current government policy requires that the giant electrical utility ensure that only 50 per cent of new power is from clean energy sources.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 10 Feb 2007