Plans to heavily increase natural gas production in B.C. are “far worse” than the impact of the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline.
That’s according to Marc Lee, the author of a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“The government’s argument that this is going to displace the use of coal in Asia –in china or Japan or other markets – is totally wishful thinking.”
Lee says the demand for energy in Asia is only “surging.”
“And coal and natural gas are both part of the mix, so if we are going to export our natural gas to other markets, then it should be in the context of an international agreement. We should only be exporting to jurisdictions that have greenhouse gas targets at least as strong as ours.”
Lee’s 12-page report details how targets set five years ago by the B.C. government will fail.
Those targets include reducing emissions at least one third by the year 2020.