Most British Columbians would be unaware of the existence of a Crown corporation in British Columbia called Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT) established under Bill 44, the Greenhouse Gas Reductions Targets Act (GHGRTA) that became law in 2007.
Under the act, health authorities, school districts, colleges, universities and Crown corporations must pay PCT $25 for each tonne of C02 they produce over a predetermined amount. They began paying in 2010.
PCT was created to serve as a clearing house for public and private organizations in B.C. that need to purchase emission offsets, and most of them do. Public organizations must pay under the law, private organizations may pay if they want to.
An emission offset is defined in Bill 44 as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions or reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations through storage, sequestration or other means.
To illustrate, if a business reduces its CO2 emissions by 10,000 tonnes with an initiative that qualifies, it can sell those emissions savings or ‘offsets’ to PCT for an undisclosed price. In turn, PCT will sell the offsets to other clients to counter their excess emissions.
Sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in British Columbia that have been identified by PCT are transport (37 per cent), stationary sources (35 per cent), waste (6 per cent), industrial processes (5 per cent), afforestation and deforestation (5 per cent), agriculture (3.5 per cent), and solvent and other product use (1 per cent).
PCT made the news in a negative way recently with an announcement that it had purchased 84,000 tonnes of carbon offsets from Encana Corporation, a natural gas company that operates in northeastern British Columbia. The price paid was not disclosed.
Encana had adjusted its drilling methods and by doing so was able to reduce its carbon emissions by 85 per cent, an amount said to be the equivalent of emissions from 22,500 cars for one year.
The purchase of the carbon offsets angered officials in public institutions around the province who are struggling to balance their budgets for 2011-2012 who must pay PCT.
They are frustrated with the way PCT works. School districts have suffered financially in the past few years yet they were required to be carbon neutral starting in 2010 which meant making payments to PCT.
From a taxpayers point of view there is something inherently wrong with the approach taken by the provincial government. Companies can develop ways to reduce their GHG emissions and receive a payment from PCT for doing so.
In contrast, public sector institutions like school districts are required by law to reduce their emissions and pay PCT for every tonne of GHG over their limit. It is impossible for them to reach a zero emissions level so they will have to budget for making payments to PCT annually.
In spite of efforts by governments around the world to control GHG emissions there is 30 per cent more carbon in the atmosphere now than at the start of the industrial era.
The most visible results of the increase are lessening snow pillows, melting glaciers, increasing precipitation, and more frequent heat waves. Extinction of up to 30 per cent of species and a decrease in global food production are the less visible ones.
British Columbians should not be stuck with a programme that is not in their best interests. PCT should be reviewed and possibly repealed.
However, that won’t happen unless premier Clark and her cabinet get a loud and clear message from taxpayers who disagree with the subsidization of industrial operations such as Encana.
Bill 44 and PCT are excellent issues for the upcoming fall election campaign and if candidates don’t mention them voters should.
– Roy Ronaghan is a columnist for the Grand Forks Gazette
