VANCOUVER — BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver says the forthcoming clean growth strategy will highlight better opportunities for the province to both grow its economy and reduce emissions than the LNG industry the government has pursued.

“We should be going aggressively after clean manufacturing,” he told StarMetro in an interview Monday.

“Why aren’t we talking about trying to build a Tesla … gigafactory for batteries in Terrace?”

Weaver’s comments followed a reminder from south-of-the-border Monday morning that B.C. is entering what will be a highly competitive market place with new investments in liquefied natural gas.

In comments to the Associated Press, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reiterated the U.S. government’s commitment to resource industries. As part of its efforts to achieve “energy dominance,” he said the government is considering using federally owned land, including military bases, on the west coast as export facilities to get coal and natural gas to markets in Asia. Among sites under consideration is a former naval base in Alaska that could be used to ship liquefied natural gas overseas.

Observers say there’s room for the B.C. industry, but whether it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide depends on how fugitive emissions are accounted for and whether the gas is used to offset coal.

In the meantime, the industry will significantly increase the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted within B.C.’s borders creating new challenges for the province to meet its climate targets.

“We have race-for-the-bottom economics happening in LNG here in B.C.,” said Weaver, who has been highly critical of the economic incentives the province offered to make LNG investments more attractive.

There are better options than jumping into the LNG fray for both the economy and the environment, he said. “When the clean growth strategy is announced it will speak for itself.”

Werner Antweiler, the director of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business Prediction Markets, said when it comes to LNG there’s already “a real boom in the United States” underway and new federal lands may not be needed.

In 2017 U.S. LNG exports quadrupled compared to the previous year because of new facilities coming online, he said.

That boom doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a B.C. industry, though.

“There is going to be increasing demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia — that has been well projected by many that have been looking at the economic growth in the region and the transition from coal to cleaner sources,” Antweiler said.

“The key question is whether natural gas starts displacing coal. If it’s not displacing coal, then we have a problem because any additional development of fossil fuels will add to carbon emissions.”

Gillian Robinson, a spokesperson for the BC LNG Alliance, said B.C. LNG projects will have some of the lowest greenhouse gas intensities in the world.

“If we don’t see the demand for LNG met by projects here in B.C. it will be met by other projects here in the world,” she added.

LNG Canada, which announced early this month that it planned to proceed with the development of an LNG export facility in Kitimat, B.C. did not respond to StarMetro’s request for comment by publication.

Both the government and industry have highlighted B.C.’s strict regulations around LNG project emissions and the province has committed to meeting its climate targets by finding ways to offset additional emissions of an LNG industry.

Antweiler said there’s still room for improvement.

A major opportunity would be shifting LNG facilities to full electrification using clean power sources, he suggested.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

He cautioned though there could be challenges for B.C. ahead. “If you’re doing it alone it’s going to be tough because the plants south of the border will be cheaper.”

Robinson, meanwhile, was optimistic a B.C. industry could meet both environmental requirements and offer competitive pricing for their customers.

“We know that it can be done in B.C. because we do have one major project moving forward,” she said.

Read more about: