Government Should “Harmonize” Environmental Rhetoric with Budget Priorities, Wilderness Committee
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
As the BC budget is released today many British Columbians will be considering the implications of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) but the Wilderness Committee wants to draw attention to the lack of consistency between the BC government’s green rhetoric and the negative implications for the environment in the September 2009 BC budget.
“The BC government needs to harmonize its environmental rhetoric with the reality of what is in this budget,” said Gwen Barlee, Policy Coordinator for the Wilderness Committee. “Once again we are seeing further cuts to the Ministry of the Environment. There is a tremendous amount of inconsistency between what the government says in public statements and what this budget shows."
The September budget update for 2009 contains substantial cuts to the Ministry of Environment with further reductions projected over the next 3 years. Meanwhile support has ballooned for dirty industries such as oil and gas and mining including a 20 percent increase for highway expansion. Also the funding for conservation initiatives such as Live Smart BC have been eliminated. There was no new funding for conservation initiatives which had been highlighted by the BC government as one of the most important measures to address climate change.
“Automobiles are the number one source of climate changing emissions in the province, and the BC government’s decision to prioritize highway expansion flies in the face of meaningful action on climate change and will ultimately increase automobile dependency,” said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. “The HST itself will exclude gasoline which is clearly inconsistent with this government’s interest in using market forces to change individuals use of fossil fuels.”
The Wilderness Committee hopes the BC government will reconsider their decision to cut into already undefended environmental programs such as conservation initiatives, parks, environmental protection and compliance.
“This is a budget that left the environment behind,” said Barlee. “The BC government forgot the fact that a healthy environment is critical to a healthy economy. If we are going to continue to be the best place on earth we need to make investments in public transit, endangered species protection, energy conservation programs and real action on climate change.”
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For more information please contact:
Gwen Barlee – Policy Director, Wilderness Committee, 604 202 0322
Ben West – Healthy Communities Campaigner, Wilderness Committee, 604 710 5340
The September budget update for 2009 contains substantial cuts to the Ministry of Environment with further reductions projected over the next 3 years. Meanwhile support has ballooned for dirty industries such as oil and gas and mining including a 20 percent increase for highway expansion. Also the funding for conservation initiatives such as Live Smart BC have been eliminated. There was no new funding for conservation initiatives which had been highlighted by the BC government as one of the most important measures to address climate change.
“Automobiles are the number one source of climate changing emissions in the province, and the BC government’s decision to prioritize highway expansion flies in the face of meaningful action on climate change and will ultimately increase automobile dependency,” said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. “The HST itself will exclude gasoline which is clearly inconsistent with this government’s interest in using market forces to change individuals use of fossil fuels.”
The Wilderness Committee hopes the BC government will reconsider their decision to cut into already undefended environmental programs such as conservation initiatives, parks, environmental protection and compliance.
“This is a budget that left the environment behind,” said Barlee. “The BC government forgot the fact that a healthy environment is critical to a healthy economy. If we are going to continue to be the best place on earth we need to make investments in public transit, endangered species protection, energy conservation programs and real action on climate change.”
-30-
For more information please contact:
Gwen Barlee – Policy Director, Wilderness Committee, 604 202 0322
Ben West – Healthy Communities Campaigner, Wilderness Committee, 604 710 5340