LNG threatens B.C.’s greenhouse-gas goals, internal notes warn

12/11/13
Author: 
Justine Hunter

Internal B.C. government documents warn that the pursuit of a liquefied natural gas industry could double the province’s entire output of greenhouse-gas emissions – at a time that it’s struggling to meet its legislated targets to dramatically reduce GHGs. A cabinet document prepared for Environment Minister Mary Polak in June calculates the LNG sector could increase emissions by 16 per cent at a minimum, and as much as “a doubling of B.C.’s total emissions, depending on the number of plants and the technology and energy options chosen,” the document states. “At the high end of that range, B.C.’s natural gas sector emissions would be comparable to those from Alberta’s oil sands.”