Thus far, a total of 88 climate organizations issued an open letter addressed to Premier David Eby to put an end to fracking, halt any work toward new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and to phase out gas extraction as a whole in BC.
According to one organization on the list, the Wilderness Committee, BC is one of the few places on earth that is building a “new fossil fuel industry” as climate change worsens, causing disasters such as last year’s record breaking wildfire season.
“Today, the climate movement—from grassroots groups across the province to established national organizations to international allies in the US, Asia and Europe—are calling on Premier Eby to align with the global effort to salvage a safe climate and abandon plans for a massive expansion of fracking and LNG,” said Peter McCartney, Climate Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.
The organizations who have signed the open letter represent not only environmental groups, but also gas industry representatives from around the world with whom the Province hopes to sell LNG to, including Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
One Japanese environmentalist group says that the more LNG there is on the market, the harder it is for any government to move towards greener alternatives.
“Governments and companies pouring more money into fossil gas infrastructure on both sides of the Pacific are literally sucking the wind out of renewables and delaying decarbonization efforts,” said Ayumi Fukakusa, Deputy Executive Director of Friends of the Earth Japan.
“If BC goes further along the LNG path, it just makes it harder for Japan and other Asian countries to do the right thing.”
According to Economic modelling from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global demand for LNG is expected to fall by 2% annually until 2030, then it will fall by 8% afterwards.
These figures are based on the assumption that governments like BC’s keep their promises to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
BC’s current net-zero target is set at 2030.
In addition to this, more and more communities in BC and beyond are moving away from using natural gas as a method of energy, following the new Zero Carbon Step Code recommendations.
These communities include Central Saanich, Colwood, Esquimalt,North Cowichan, Saanich, Oak Bay, View Royal, Nanaimo and Victoria on Vancouver Island alone.
Another point raised in the letter is the accusation that the LNG industry is raising the cost of living for British Columbians the same way that it has in the UNited States and Australia.
According to the open letter, with higher exports of gas, could come higher utility bills for gas and hydro.
“More LNG means higher bills for Fortis customers and BC Hydro ratepayers,” said Kai Nagata, Communications Director for Dogwood, an anti-fracking advocacy group based in BC.
“People are already choosing between groceries and paying their utility bills. Raising those costs to boost oil and gas company profits is just wrong.”
The open letter was penned in a collaborative effort by Frack Free BC, an alliance of organizations who share the goal of bringing an end to fracking practices and LNG production in BC.
This alliance is led by Dogwood, Stand.earth and the Wilderness Committee.
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