FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES/VANCOUVER – Today, as households in B.C. prepare for a 17.5 percent hike in the price of natural gas – to pay for new pipelines – the BC Climate Emergency Campaign’s 2024 Progress Report warns the heavy price of fossil fuel expansion is already costing people in B.C. and will worsen when the province begins exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) later this year.

The BC Climate Emergency Campaign, whose call for B.C. to implement 10 urgent climate actions that has now been endorsed by over 600 civil society groups, is tracking the province’s progress on issues such as fossil fuel expansion, building electrification, public transit and biodiversity protection.

“If the B.C. government continues to approve new pipelines and LNG export terminals, it will make life even more unaffordable for residents in B.C. Higher bills for natural gas are already contributing to cost-of-living challenges, while wildfires and other climate-related disasters are increasing the collective costs for healthcare, insurance and infrastructure,” says Tracey Saxby, marine scientist and co-founder of My Sea to Sky.

Analysts such as Deloitte are now warning the price of natural gas will increase further when B.C. starts to export LNG later this year. The Province is likely to follow a similar trajectory as the U.S. and Australia, which both saw significant increases in domestic gas prices when these jurisdictions became LNG exporters. 

Electricity bills are also poised to increase because the B.C. government wants to use clean electricity to power LNG export facilities, which could also result in a new multi-billion dollar public subsidy to greenwash fossil fuels. The capacity required exceeds the amount of electricity currently available, and the additional generation capacity that would be needed to be built out is equivalent to eight Site C projects. The Site C hydroelectric dam is the most expensive public infrastructure project in Canada.

“Will Minister Dix tell B.C. residents that they need to compete with the LNG export industry for energy to heat their homes and that their electricity and gas bills are going to go up?” Saxby asks.

There are six LNG export facilities underway or in the approval process in Canada. All are in B.C., including Woodfibre LNG in Squamish and Tilbury LNG in Delta. The Province started the latest phase in Tilbury LNG’s regulatory process today.

The emissions from these LNG export projects will be released into local B.C. communities for the 40-year lifespans of these operations.

B.C.’s annual emissions are not trending downwards and are now 26 percent above 1990 levels, according to the most recent data to the end of 2022. In contrast, the European Union has reduced its annual emissions to 36 percent below 1990 levels, demonstrating that rapid emissions reductions are possible.

Climate change is rapidly reshaping the economy, costing B.C. taxpayers at least $17 billion a year. “It is harming our economy, driving up food prices and insurance premiums, and increasing energy and health care costs,” says Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC’s Senior Policy and Science Advisor. “Beyond direct economic impacts, people across the province face displacement, loss of livelihoods, dangerous working conditions, and worsening public health outcomes from prolonged exposure to smoke, extreme temperatures, severe weather events, emissions from fossil fuel projects, and other climate-change related hazards.”

The B.C. government made progress in some areas this year. Notably, the Emergency and Disaster Management Act was legislated in July; a Coastal Marine Strategy was released in partnership with First Nations; and BC Hydro’s updated 10-year capital plan now contains $36 billion in regional and community infrastructure investments across the province

Despite this progress, emissions are rising as B.C. continues to subsidize and expand new fossil fuel infrastructure at the expense of everyday people and future generations. The BC Climate Emergency Campaign has assigned a failing grade to three of its 10 actions: to set binding climate pollution targets based on science and justice; to rapidly wind down all fossil fuel production and use; and to track and report progress on these actions every year.

The BC Climate Emergency Campaign is committed to supporting the B.C. government to implement these ten urgent climate actions, working towards building a safer, healthier, and more affordable future for all British Columbians. 

Additional quotes:

Dr. Melissa Lem, President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and family physician
“As doctors, we see first-hand how BC’s fracking and LNG export industry is exacerbating the province’s crisis of access to healthcare, increasing healthcare system costs, and contributing to worsening health outcomes. Oil and gas projects are linked with a range of serious health harms, including cancers, respiratory disease, abnormal pregnancy outcomes, and premature death, especially affecting Indigenous and northern communities. Carbon pollution from the LNG industry is also driving more devastating wildfires, wildfire smoke and heat waves that fill our hospitals and offices with sick patients. The BC government must act now to phase out fossil fuel production and use, if we want a healthy future.”

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs
“If the BC government continues with fossil fuel expansion, particularly in the form of more LNG, we won’t be able to turn the dial on climate change and it will negate many of the great climate actions underway. We are putting our communities at risk.” 

Emiko Newman, Coordinator, BC Climate Emergency Campaign
“BC policymakers must stop greenwashing LNG, stop framing LNG as a clean energy solution, and stop repeating the oil and gas industry’s false narrative that LNG can be net-zero. Gas expansion for LNG is making life more unaffordable for people in BC, and fuelling increasingly severe and deadly unnatural disasters.”

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