B.C. future links to renewables

The British Columbia government has introduced a strategy to shift away from fossil fuels and build the provincial economy around reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also leaves portions of the plan to be determined.

Premier John Horgan said Wednesday the plan called CleanBC will rely on cutting emissions from buildings, industries, vehicles and organic waste, while boosting the carbon tax and the production of clean hydroelectricity.

The plan will move the province to a lowcarbon future, said Horgan, who introduced the plan with Green Leader Andrew Weaver.

“We want to make shifts: shifts in our homes, shifts in our vehicles, shifts in our industry to move away from burning fossil fuels and towards a cleaner, greener approach using British Columbia’s abundant electricity and other abundant opportunities that are now emerging and will emerge into the future,” the premier said.

The climate-change plan will require all new buildings to be net-zero energy ready by 2032, meaning they would need to generate on-site energy to power their own function.

The government says new buildings will be 80 per cent more efficient by then compared with homes built now.

The plan also includes diverting 95 per cent of organic waste from landfills and converting it to other products.