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The Pembina Institute calls the BC NDP’s election platform a “step backwards for climate change.”

Matt Horne, BC Energy Solutions Director for the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the BC NDP’s release of its election platform:

“The NDP plans to cancel British Columbia’s carbon tax, but offers limited detail on how the party otherwise plans to meet British Columbia’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.

“The NDP’s platform puts climate change on the shelf to be addressed in the future, rather than building on steps already taken. The carbon tax is already showing results. It is important for British Columbia to keep moving forward on climate change rather than starting over again. [my emphasis]

“The carbon tax covers more than 75 per cent of British Columbia’s greenhouse gas pollution, including industry, while the core of the NDP plan would address only 30 per cent at best. British Columbia’s climate plan needs to be strengthened, but the NDP’s proposal takes us in the opposite direction.

“The NDP fails to acknowledge that British Columbia’s carbon tax applies to all fossil fuels burned in the province, regardless of who consumes them. This is an important fact for British Columbians to understand.”

The NDP platform includes a number of other commitments related to climate and energy, and the Pembina Institute will release a more detailed review of these next week.