READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.
Vancouver–Efforts to cut BC’s greenhouse gas emissions will fail unless the province ends subsidies to oil and gas companies, raises the royalties those companies pay and imposes tough regulations that end wasteful industry practices, a new study concludes.
Foot Off the Gas: Regulating BC’s Oil and Gas Industry as if the Environment Mattered is being released on the eve of a much-anticipated climate change announcement by Premier Gordon Campbell. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study finds that avoidable industry practices such as gas flaring are responsible for 13.5% of BC’s greenhouse gas emissions. The study also finds that the province has a hand in those emissions by unnecessarily subsidizing the industry to the tune of $200 million per year.
“BC’s goal to slash greenhouse gas emissions by one third by 2020 is laudable. But, unfortunately, government subsidies to oil and gas companies mean industry emissions are increasing,” says CCPA resource policy analyst, Ben Parfitt. His study recommends that BC:
- Order an end to destructive oil and gas company practices such as gas flaring.
- End industry subsidies, which are unnecessary given rising fossil fuel prices.
- Cap the amount of natural gas pulled from the ground.
- Institute a carbon tax to encourage companies to be more CO2 neutral.
- Raise gas royalties (as has recently been proposed in Alberta) and require companies to pay royalties on all flared and otherwise wasted natural gas.
The report finds that in addition to substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the recommendations would increase the shelf-life of a non-renewable resource, which benefits the environment and communities alike.
“One of the ironies in BC is that we have had vigorous debate about how to manage renewable natural resources such as trees, but no corresponding discussion about how we manage
non-renewable resources such as our oil and gas deposits,” Parfitt says.
At present, the amount of gas that is flared (burned off rather than channelled into pipelines) equals 15 per cent of BC’s marketable natural gas production. The value of the wasted gas is equivalent to more than $200 million in royalty payments per year. The study recommends that as gas is saved through an end to flaring, that overall production rates be reduced correspondingly. “That way, everyone wins. Gas companies have more gas to process and sell. Royalty payments to government are stretched out. Communities have more job security. And there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions,” Parfitt says.
Foot Off the Gas: Regulating BC’s Oil and Gas Industry as if the Environment Mattered is available at www.policyalternatives.ca
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