British Columbia has been long celebrated for implementing one of North America’s first — and the world’s most successful — carbon tax regimes.
Yet at the ongoing COP21 climate talks in Paris, Premier Christy Clark is getting a lot of flack for her province’s lack of climate leadership.
Clark’s efforts to develop a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry and her freezing of the province’s carbon tax in 2012 shows just how far B.C. is from being a climate leader, according to Torrance Coste, member of the Canadian Youth Delegation attending the climate summit.
Last week a panel of industry and environmental experts appointed by Clark to review the province’s climate action found B.C. will not meet its own target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions one third by 2020.
“I’m fairly disappointed with what [Christy Clark] is bring forward as part of B.C.’s new climate leadership model,” Coste said. “It’s not building enough on what we’ve done in the past.”
Coste said B.C. has resisted the panel’s recommendation to unfreeze the price on carbon. The panel suggested B.C. raise the carbon tax by 33 per cent in 2018.
Clark said she would revisit the tax in 2018, but said the government “would only consider an increase in the carbon tax under a regime where emission-intensive, trade-exposed industries are fully protected from any carbon tax increase.”
Clark tweeted about sharing B.C.’s “story on carbon pricing” with other Canadian premiers in Paris. “We are proof you can reduce your emissions & grow your economy.”
Telling BC’s story on carbon pricing at #COP21 – we are proof you can reduce emissions & grow your economy. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/4D6mWs6cS1
— Christy Clark (@christyclarkbc) December 1, 2015
“Bringing in the carbon tax but not including fossil fuels isn’t climate leadership,” Coste said.