Not enough on climate change, group charges

The provincial budget helps "dirty fuel" at the cost of clean energy, says environmental groups, pointing to large incentives to the oil and gas industry, cuts to environment and forest ministry staff and small clean-energy incentives.

High hopes raised by the carbon tax and Premier Gordon Campbell's commitment to fighting climate change were shattered by the budget, said Charles Campbell of the Dogwood Initiative.

Charles Campbell estimates that $35 million over three years for the LiveSmart program and $100 million over three years for development of clean energy is less than 10 per cent of what the province will spend supporting the oil, gas and mining industries.

Matt Horne of the Pembina Institute said the budget does not do enough to help B.C. meet its commitment of reducing carbon emissions by 33 per cent by 2020, pointing to fossil-fuel-friendly measures such as carbon tax loopholes, royalty breaks and oil and gas road infrastructure.

Sierra Club executive director George Heyman said he likes the revival of LiveSmart, a program to help make homes energy efficient, but it pales in comparison to the $282 million in subsidies to the oil and gas industry.

"This budget gives small snacks to green initiatives compared to the full-course meals that oil, gas and mining companies will get from public coffers," he said.

Cuts to the Environment and Forests ministries are worrying, said Heyman, who fears a $655,000 cut to parks and protected areas will lead to park closures. Also, a $30-million reduction to forests and range management, together with staff reductions, could derail environmentally friendly forest management, he said.

Gwen Barlee of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee said the only gold medal the government deserves is for rhetoric.

"This budget is more of the same old fossil-fuel-intensive industry with a greenwashing varnish," said Barlee, who estimates the Environment Ministry will lose about five per cent of its staff each year, meaning further cuts to the park-ranger program.

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