By Roy L Hales

In December, the World’s leaders will meet in Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Many hope they will be able to forge an international agreement that lays out clear, fair and ambitious targets for every country on the globe. Consequently, the province has sent out a call for comments on BC’s Climate Action.

“B.C.’s new Climate Leadership Plan will influence how British Columbians will work, travel and live for decades to come. That’s why it’s important we hear from you now, before government makes decisions on next steps,” said Mary Polak, Minister of Environment

Matt Horne of the Pembina Institute, said the province achieved some positive steps, but not enough to achieve our goals for 2020 or 2050.

One of the crucial questions is LNG development. Horne believes it may be possible to develop this resource to a limited degree and still stay within our emissions goal – but not to the extent that Premier Christie Clark Government wishes.

Though it is difficult to tie any specific event to Climate Change, Horne believes the warmer temperatures, smoky haze and record breaking number of wildfires we saw this summer fit the basic scenario.

Summertime is not the best time for the government to ask the public to comment, however the issues are very real and our response, or lack of it, could effect British Columbians for generations.

Matt Horne adds, “I encourage all British Columbians to share the solutions they’d like to see in the Climate Leadership Plan. We need a successful plan to help fight climate change and ensure a thriving economy.”

He says a great deal more than that in the podcast above.

Top Photo Credit: Sunset in Paris by Moyan Brenn via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)