Our climate justice framework for BC is to eliminate fossil fuels by 2040. In the household sector, this poses a significant challenge, not so much in terms of technology and knowledge, but because natural gas is much cheaper than electricity per unit of energy. Even though BC has among the lowest prices in North America, [...]
Entries from July 28th, 2011
Decarbonizing BC homes and the price of gas
July 28th, 2011 · Marc Lee · 2 Comments · Climate change, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Tags:
Government restores a little of what it took away from social assistance recipients – Acknowledges value of being able to walk
July 26th, 2011 · Keith Reynolds · 2 Comments · Poverty, inequality & welfare
If someone takes something away from you and then a year later gives half of it back, how much credit should they get for it? Well, less than half actually, but you get my point. That seems to be the question the BC government is posing with its announcement Monday that it has “expanded its [...]
Tags:
What is a middle class income these days?
July 20th, 2011 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Poverty, inequality & welfare
Whenever we consider the pros and cons of a new policy, we want to know if it benefits or hurts the poor, the middle class and those who are better off. Often, the answer depends on how we define each of these groups. It’s said that 99% of Canadians think of themselves as middle class, [...]
Tags: income·inequality·middle class
Future government contract costs jump 50% in one year
July 20th, 2011 · Keith Reynolds · 1 Comment · Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Although it has received some coverage in the media it is worth noting the eye-popping jump in the cost of long term contracts signed by the BC government in the last year. These contracts don’t go on the books as debt, but just like debt we will be responsible for it for the next 30 [...]
Darkwoods, the murky world of carbon credits and a “carbon neutral” B.C. government
July 15th, 2011 · Ben Parfitt · 3 Comments · Climate change, Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
It is spun in government press releases as a “first” for any jurisdiction in North America, an achievement that places British Columbia “on the leading edge” of efforts to combat climate change. But scratch the surface just a little and questions arise about the legitimacy of Environment Minister Terry Lake’s recent claim that “from this [...]
Tags:
How much does poverty cost BC?
July 14th, 2011 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance
We’ve known for a long time that we all pay for poverty. We just didn’t know how much. This is the question I investigate in my latest CCPA report The Cost of Poverty in BC. If you’re not in the mood for reading the report, you can watch a short video that summarizes the findings [...]
Tags: Economy·poverty·poverty reduction
Deconstructing BC’s carbon neutral government
July 13th, 2011 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · Climate change, Privatization, P3s & public services, Provincial budget & finance
Besides the carbon tax, one of the most important BC government climate action initiatives has been the adoption of Carbon Neutral Government. That is, count emissions from public buildings and travel, reduce them as much as possible and pay for carbon offsets to negate the rest. As of the 2010 calendar year, the BC government [...]
Tags:
Is BC about to drop a new carbon bomb?
July 11th, 2011 · Marc Lee · 3 Comments · Climate change, Energy
Any day now the BC government should be releasing the latest greenhouse gas data for the province, and we will see if any progress is being made towards a legislated 33% reduction in emissions by 2020 (relative to 2007 levels; data will be for 2009 and we know that emissions rose in 2008). Below the [...]
Tags:
