LETTER: Huge Provincial Subsidies Threaten Health, Prosperity
By Letters to the editor
Dear Editor,
BC taxpayers miss out on almost a billion dollars every year due to our government’s dangerous and misguided fossil fuels subsidies; dangerous because fossil fuel expansion threatens to further degrade the health of BC’s citizens and environment, misguided as it unfairly skews the market away from the clean energy economy we so urgently need.
A press release from Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) and The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) details this alarming give-away. CAPE has investigated the negative health implications of BC’s expanding LNG industry, warning “This unprecedented and ill-advised investment in fossil fuel infrastructure is a dangerous step in the wrong direction.” (https://cape.ca/)
Oil & gas make up just 3% of GDP in BC while accounting for just 1% of BC jobs, making this enormous give-away even more absurd and sending the wrong signals to the economy. “The annual $1 billion in subsidies in BC almost completely offsets the $1.2 billion in carbon tax revenues, and hugely outweighs the few million spent on clean energy,” says CCL’s Judy O’Leary.
I bet we all could imagine how a billion $ a year could be better spent to make our province a healthier and more prosperous place for BC families. Let your MLA know what you think.
Steve Pyke
Kaslo, BC
