Temperatures are soaring, the province is on fire and Premier Christy Clark has called a rare summer sitting of the legislature. One hopes our government would call an emergency sitting to address the health and economic crisis facing B.C. communities as a result of climate change-induced water shortages and wildfire.

Yet instead of taking meaningful steps to address the threats facing B.C., this government is adding fuel to the fire. The summer session is to debate legislation to enable the export of liquefied fracked gas from Prince Rupert, as proposed by Pacific NorthWest LNG, a consortium led by Malaysian energy giant Petronas.

The irony cannot be overlooked, given the links drawn by scientists between the increasing wildfires and hot, dry weather with the warming trend of climate change. The average number of wildfires (by July 13, averaged over the past 25 years) is 484 and 18,869 hectares burned. With most of the summer still to come and barely any rain in sight, there have already been 1,072 fires this year, and 283,527 hectares burned.

Unfortunately, the smoky haze, evacuation alerts and air quality advisories may be the new normal, as scientists predict hotter, dryer conditions for B.C. over the coming decades.

According to the website of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the average length of the wildfire season in the western United States has increased from five to seven months over the last 40 years.

Although Clark recently announced - with much fanfare - a commitment to climate action, she continues to focus on promoting LNG projects with no regard for the carbon and methane emissions they will produce.

The development of an LNG export industry is not compatible with any serious approach

to tackling climate change, and would make things worse. Building three LNG terminals would result in an extra 36 million tonnes per year of greenhouse gases representing more than 50 per cent of B.C.'s officially reported emissions.

Adding further insult to injury, it came to light recently that the province has agreed to compensate the LNG consortium if taxes on the industry are raised, natural gas tax credits are reduced or new carbon taxes targeting the LNG sector are imposed over the next 25 years.

This is a great deal for Petronas, but a terrible deal for British Columbians.

B.C. taxpayers will be subsidizing the profit margins of an international energy company, greenhouse gas emissions will soar, and in all our communities we will feel the effects and bear the costs of worsening climate change.

Why is our government offering protection to foreign companies and not to B.C. communities?

This agreement would lock us in for 25 years. This is the same time period we need to drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. A report by the European Commission calls for a reduction in emissions by 60 per cent by 2040. These levels of reductions are impossible without strong emissions reductions targets and legislative mechanisms to enforce them, including the carbon tax.

Increasing and expanding the carbon tax would further motivate business and consumer choices that benefit climate, and provide an incentive for polluting industries to reduce emissions, while increasing the competitiveness of climate-friendly and job-creating alternatives such as renewable energy, energy-efficiency building retrofits, ecosystem-based forestry and sustainable agriculture. This new legislation takes us in the opposite direction.

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of B.C. workers, environment and economy requires real climate leadership, which is not compatible with any push to export LNG.

The alternatives are known, and possible.

Rather than reconvening the legislature to pass new laws promoting climate-polluting fracked gas and undermining our decision-making ability, Clark should use this summer session to urgently enact climate policies that protect our communities from drought and fire, now and into the future.

Caitlyn Vernon is campaigns director at Sierra Club B.C.