We need to tell our Premier, his Ministers, and our local MLAs that we are voting for the people with the most ambitious targets and the most effective plan for reducing GHG emissions.

While acknowledging that the BC government under Premier Gordon Campbell has set itself an impressive target of reducing BC’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 33% (below current levels: see note*) by 2020, we need to stress to him that the first step towards such reductions is to stop adding new large sources of emissions.

Wheels for Change joins a coalition of BC-based NGOs (including the Sierra Club - BC Chapter, the David Suzuki Foundation, and the BC Sustainable Energy Association) making the following requests to the provincial government:

• End subsidies to oil and gas exploration and development that will increase our GHG emissions;
• Stop efforts to open up our fragile coasts to offshore oil and gas development and tanker traffic;
• Invest in public transit and other transportation strategies that will reduce emissions rather than expanding highways and bridges; and
• Legislate province-wide GHG reduction targets for 2020 and 2050, and set interim targets to ensure that we meet them.

The Wheels for Change campaign is designing downloadable postcards, addressed to provincial politicians, which ask them to consider the requests of the above petition. These postcards will be available here (link coming soon) and at our Wheels for Change booths.

For an easy-to-read document on what the BC government should be doing, Wheels for Change recommends The Sierra Club – BC Chapter’s ‘Cool BC’ handout:

*Note: Since BC is now 35% higher in GHG emissions than it was in 1990, this means that the BC government’s plan will almost have returned our province’s emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; the Kyoto Accord asked for a 30% reduction by this time period. Nonetheless, the BC government’s standards are currently the highest in North America.