Environment

Special Op Ed to The Globe and Mail
Published September 28th/2013

We can no longer ignore the facts: Global warming is unequivocal, it is caused by us and its consequences will be profound. But that doesn’t mean we can’t solve it.

On Friday, the International Panel on Climate Change released its Summary for Policy Makers – a 36-page document that is considered to be the most comprehensive assessment of climate science ever published.

We have had six years of new scientific studies since the last IPCC assessment. The report has built on more than 9,200 scientific publications — three-quarters of which have been published since 2007. The conclusions are clear.

Once again, and with more certainty than ever, the IPCC report concludes that global warming is unequivocal and it is extremely likely that we are causing it. How likely is “extremely likely”? According to the IPCC, we can be 95-100 per cent certain that humans are causing global warming. For a cautious, scientific body it doesn’t get more certain than that.

The fact is that scientists have done their job. I can think of no other scientific endeavor that has engaged so many experts, from so many disciplines and from so many countries around the world on one single issue, as the IPCC has. Not just that, but every major national scientific academy in the world has come to the same conclusion.

Now it’s time for politicians – our leaders – to do their job.

In 2009, governments around the world, including Canada, made a commitment to keep global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, compared to preindustrial levels. They did that because we know the consequences of unmitigated global warming will be profound from an economic, social and ecological perspective. According to the report, we are failing in that commitment.

Levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are already higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years and we are on track to take them to levels not seen since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. In essence, we are turning back the atmospheric clock by tens of millions of years in the span of just a few decades. This trend will lead to the increased occurrence of extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy, the floods in Calgary and the flashfloods in Boulder, Colo. This rapid rate of change will stress the infrastructure we depend on in our communities and our cities and lead to the widespread extinction of species around the world. And so, I believe, we must take action.

We can and need to do more. While the U.S., the E.U. and even China are making a profound shift to address the root causes of climate change, the Canadian government continues to focus our economy predominantly around the extraction, transportation and combustion of fossil fuels. Even British Columbia, which used to be considered a leader in the development of climate policies, is now moving in the opposite direction with its focus on the development of a Liquefied Natural Gas industry.

The IPCC report could and should inspire us to take a different approach. We could invest in the economy of tomorrow instead of the economy of yesterday.

We could position ourselves as leaders in the clean tech sector — the sector responsible for the generation, transportation, storage and end-use of renewable energy. This is a sector that creates stable, high paying jobs in communities throughout Canada, not just in one or two locations.

We already have the industry, the expertise and the capital, and we were once considered emerging leaders in this area. But now what we lack is clear government leadership. In the U.S., for example, job growth in the clean tech sector is growing at four times the rate of all jobs. And that’s a Jobs Plan you can take to the bank.

The fact is today’s decisions-makers will not be around to experience the full magnitude of the consequences of their inaction. Those will be borne by the youth of today and the children of tomorrow. So, let’s be inspired by the IPCC report and together let’s take the steps now to create the low-carbon economy of tomorrow.

July 3rd, 2013 Andrew Weaver made British Columbia and Canadian history as the first provincially elected Green Party member to speak in the legislature. The BC Liberal government, opposition and independent parties and members are debating the provincial budget in the current summer session, which estimate updates on revenue and spending due over the coming weeks.

The BC Liberal government has based medium and long term revenue targets largely on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production and exports, which Andrew Weaver has aptly pointed out throughout the campaign, in the media and now in the House, is predicated on a price, and demand, which might not exist.

To base our economy on LNG is to risk subjecting BC’s economy to the boom and bust roller coaster of global fossil fuel pricing, with all its twists, turns and drops. Meanwhile, investors are increasingly highlighting the possibility of a global carbon bubble and the real economic risks that surround it. To attempt to lay all our eggs in this one basket, on the hope that we will be the one exception — the one jurisdiction that will defy history and economics— is to base our future on very unstable ground.

Yet even if we defy the odds, coast through the boom and bust cycles and breeze through the carbon bubble, we cannot achieve our provincial carbon targets while we double down on LNG. We will have no choice but to abandon our continent-leading, climate commitments. That’s not politics, it’s science. And the numbers just don’t add up. The carbon emissions associated with LNG development are simply too high to allow us to meet those targets.

However, there is a way forward – policies supporting clean technology and energy development – ones that were initiated by a BC Liberal government in 2008, and seemingly abandoned now.

You can watch the Hansard video of Andrew Weaver’s inaugural speech here.

An issue that I raised during the election campaign, and continue to bring up after getting elected, is the need to ensure BC implements energy policy that manages the transition to a low carbon economy and guarantees British Columbians a prosperous future for generations to come. I am deeply concerned that both provincial parties have developed platforms based on a future economy driven by the expansion of fracking and natural gas extraction in northeastern BC and the export of liquified natural gas to China. Both of these platforms fail the triple bottom line test of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

New technologies available around the world have meant that unconventional natural gas reserves are becoming easier to bring on line. The consequence is falling natural gas prices as there is a growing glut in the market. In fact, the US Department on Energy notes that China possesses the world’s largest recoverable shale gas resources, more than three times that contained in all of Canada. Even the US has more than twice the shale gas resource than Canada.

The NDP and Liberal position that their platform will create jobs is also short sighted. Very few long-term jobs will be created; the rest are short-term construction jobs that will need to be filled rapidly and likely by transient offshore or out-of-province workers. In fact, there are four times as many jobs in the film industry as in the oil, gas and mining sectors combined. An alternate approach might be to recognize that our existing natural gas resources have potential within the transportation sector as a transitional fuel. The potential for economic and job growth in this sector is large.

Under the previous BC administration, BC developed a leadership role in renewable energy technologies and the clean tech sector in general. Rather than supporting the growth in these industries, our current political parties are putting forward platforms that will make it harder and harder for these industries to compete. If BC cannot show leadership in this area, I don’t know who can. Without strong, independent voices in our legislature, I fear all the good work that has been achieved over the last few years will fall by the wayside.

I have been a strong supporter of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) playing a significant and growing role in BC’s electricity sector. I commend Gordon Campbell for showing leadership by engaging IPPs in producing an increasing share of BCs electricity market. It appears that this leadership is disappearing with the focus on northeastern BC’s natural gas and the weakening of the Clean Energy Act.

It is difficult for the clean tech sector to strategically invest in BC if there is no certainty in the procurement or regulatory process. This is particularly important as we move forward with the potential electrification of a growing fraction of the transportation sector. It is clear to me that industry understands the potential in BC for the clean tech sector. But industry needs to know that government also understands the potential for this sector.

BC Hydro’s lack of transparency and regularity in issuing calls for power is also of concern. A process needs to be established to allow local communities to have input into the type and scale of power projects that they would like to see developed. Engaging local communities with industry early in the process can establish a sense of local ownership and buy-in.

I believe BC needs to move forward as a renewable energy powerhouse in the North American market. In fact, I would like to see the Clean Energy Act amended to require that 100% of our electricity be produced by renewables and to increase the amount of power that BC exports. As we move towards the electrification of larger components of the transportation fleet and emissions pricing becomes a reality in a growing number of places (including California now with their cap and trade system), it is pretty clear to me that there will be increasing demand for renewables in the future. With strategic planning, BC can be a major supplier of this “green” energy.

BC is blessed with some very large capacitors (hydro dams) that could be better utilized in the years ahead. There is no reason why we cannot start to implement a smart grid system that is integrated across BC and into wider North American markets. With smart planning, large capacitors would play a major role in terms of load levelling (and water can even be pumped back up hill if there is excess winds, for example).

Large crown corporations with their burgeoning administrations and slow and opaque process of decision making are not known for their innovation and risk-taking. BC Hydro, in its current form may not be equipped to play the visionary role they need to perform. I think the role of government is to set the regulatory environment (i.e. Clean Energy Act, emissions pricing etc) and to provide a long-term vision for BC’s energy future. As a Crown Corporation, BC Hydro could become the visionary planning, advisory and contracting body that guides BC to become the energy powerhouse that it needs to be. With predictability and a plan, industry will find the solutions.

The Green Party of BC is unique in that it does not whip its members. I have made it clear that I will be moving forward with a campaign to promote renewable energy and clean tech on the provincial scene. That is why I spent the last months talking with a number of people within the clean tech sector. My approach fits in well with the Green Party platform and recognition of the need to move forward with clean energy production. Obviously I will also address numerous issues local to my constituency but, as Deputy Leader, I will be addressing provincial issues on behalf of the party and will make transitioning to renewable energy an important provincial imperative