VICTORIA, B.C. – Today, the government announced its plan to deal with the outdated, broken royalty system for oil and gas in British Columbia. Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley has issued the following statement:
“This plan fails to recognize the true cost of oil and gas development in this province. This is one step forward when science is telling us we need a leap.
“The deep well credits are the most egregious fossil fuel subsidies in this province, but they are far from the only one. This NDP government handed a generous package to LNG Canada, well beyond what the BC Liberals had offered. And they have still not ruled out expanding that project into Phase 2, all while failing to reconcile it within the Clean BC plan.
“Numerous stakeholders contributed to this review process. Many called for immediate changes and a moratorium on new oil and gas development, and a recognition that oil and gas development needs to be urgently phased out altogether. The BC NDP have failed to acknowledge this or commit to a phase out. Instead, they stated that today’s announcement should not impact drilling levels.
“Oil and gas development is harmful. It intensifies climate change. It risks stranding assets in a sunset industry. It has direct, tangible impacts on communities - poisoning water, increasing rates of birth defects, cancers, and more. It is tied to violence against Indigenous communities. Rather than continuing to tinker around the edges of climate action, this government needs to focus on transitioning our economy away from oil and gas to clean, renewable energy.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]