News Release - December 17, 2009
VICTORIA - Clean energy recommendations delivered today by an alliance of many of the province's top environmental organizations are a positive start to a conversation about the future of energy policy in British Columbia, say the Official Opposition.
"This report confirms many things we have been saying about the B.C. Liberal plan to privatize power in the province. Big picture planning is completely absent, and cumulative environmental considerations are secondary at best. The B.C. Energy Plan is seriously flawed and the public interest requires a broad based and inclusive process to get it back on track, " said John Horgan, Opposition Energy Critic.
Today prominent environmental groups including the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute released a set of recommendations for responsible clean electricity development in British Columbia. The six recommendations point to glaring deficiencies in the B.C. Liberal energy plan.
"This set of recommendations is a positive framework for a broader discussion on how we plan for our clean energy future. The concerns raised by environmental organizations combined with the public's general mistrust of the government and the B.C. Utilities Commission's rejection of B.C. Hydro's long term acquisition plan points to the need for open and meaningful consultation about B.C.'s energy policy," said Horgan.
"Unfortunately, instead of engaging the public on this issue the B.C. Liberals decided to give us a hand-picked panel predisposed to approving more expensive private power projects that will be harmful to ratepayers, harmful to our long term energy security and potentially harmful to our environment."
The Opposition Energy Critic sees the environmental organizations' acknowledgement that B.C. Hydro be allowed "to develop all types of clean, renewable and low impact electricity generation projects" as a pointed critique of the B.C. Liberal's private power only energy plan.
"The B.C. Liberal government continues to seek ways to ignore public concerns and instead focuses on ways to make it easier for their corporate friends to stake out our rivers at the expense of B.C. Hydro ratepayers," said Horgan. "Our precious public electricity system is being compromised to benefit B.C. Liberal friends, not to secure clean green energy for the future of our province."
The organizations also recommend that energy conservation and efficiency be the top priority in any B.C. energy plan and calls on the government to maximize the public benefit of energy projects by limiting environmental, social and economic impacts of new projects. It also calls for an informed consensus about the conditions for development of projects for energy export.
"It's really important to note that the number one thing recommended by these organizations is to put conservation and energy efficiency at the top of the priority list," said Rob Fleming, New Democrat environment critic. "The cancellation of the LiveSmart program and the introduction the HST, which will see tax exemptions disappear for environmentally-friendly choices like Energy Star appliances and windows, solar energy options and bicycles shows that the B.C. Liberal government is ignoring the importance of energy conservation."
Other recommendations include strengthening of the environmental assessment process, improving monitoring and compliance, and the development of a plan to manage to the cumulative effects of renewable power projects.
"These recommendations are a roadmap to restoring economic and environmental sustainability to energy generation in British Columbia," said Fleming. "The B.C. Liberal government allowed hundreds of rivers across the province to be staked for private development with no oversight, and no examination of the cumulative effects that construction of facilities, access roads and new power lines would have on our forests, our rivers and our fish."
"It's time to put the public interest and the environment ahead of B.C. Liberal political objectives for a change," said Horgan.
Carole James and the Official Opposition are advocating for positive environmental solutions, including a Green Fund which would see $150 million a year for climate change solutions and transit improvements in communities across the province.
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Media Contact: Jennifer Jones 250-889-6308
