VICTORIA - British Columbians will see legislation tabled this week legally enshrining Premier Gordon Campbell's ambitious commitment to combat climate change, which he touts as a first in Canada.
In February's throne speech, the B.C. Liberal government promised what Campbell has described as an "aggressive'' target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 33 per cent by 2020.
According to the premier, this legislation will entrench that target, and several interim benchmarks, into law. It will require the province to establish "the most credible, aggressive and economically viable sector targets possible'' for 2012 and 2016.
But critics see a catch -- Campbell's blue-ribbon climate action team, still to be named, will have until August to set those legally binding targets. They are then to be put out for public review, response and amendment before regulations finally are established at the end of next year.
NDP Opposition Leader Carole James is dubious about the initiative and the timing of the bill's introduction.
"I would have expected, if this was such a big priority, they would have introduced it at the beginning of the legislative session (in mid-October), not the last two weeks of the session,'' she said. "I'll be interested to see, like everyone else, whether there are real teeth.''
The NDP also points out Campbell promised to name his climate action team of leaders from business, the scientific and environment communities, First Nations and academia some time in October.
"There were some delays encountered in getting approval from employers of certain individuals,'' Environment Minister Barry Penner said in an interview. "I expect those extra hurdles will be overcome shortly and you can expect to hear an announcement very soon.''
In the interim, the government has set up a climate action secretariat within the premier's office, headed by Graham Whitmarsh, a former Royal Navy officer.
Whitmarsh reiterated Campbell's promise to have legislation setting gas emission targets in force by the end of next year during his first public appearance last week at a climate conference in Vancouver.
One measure of Whitmarsh's perspective on global warming can be seen in his office where there is a 1980 photo of himself and several fellow officer's standing on the metres-thick ice at the North Pole beside one of Her Majesty's submarines.
He shares sentiments voiced by the premier at the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that "whether we like it or not, the battle against global warming is upon us,'' and that the cost of dealing with the problem will ultimately be far less than for not dealing with it.
But Whitmarsh also revealed concrete steps, such as legislation to require the adoption of California-style tailpipe emission standards, regulations for low carbon fuels and support for a so-called cap-and-trade system for carbon credits will not be part of this week's legislation, and will be tabled next spring.
Campbell asserts that requiring the government to set legally-binding emission reduction targets is a first in Canada, with British Columbia leading the way.
But it's just one of several pages borrowed from California, a jurisdiction that has been writing the book on such initiatives for more almost four decades.
Penner said commentary following the throne speech's ambitious promise recommended British Columbia follow California's lead and set those targets in law.
He said the bill to be put to MLAs this week "will do just that.''
According to a government official who did not want to be named, other ideas cribbed from California will have a major effect on the province's efforts to curtail emissions.
He said the commitment to adopt that state's tough tailpipe and low-carbon fuel standards soon, coupled with several other transit and planning initiatives, should reduce emissions by up to nine million tonnes by 2020. That amounts to nearly one-quarter the estimated 36 million to 40 million tonnes of reduced emissions need to reach Campbell's target.
The province is also expected to rely heavily on California's carbon-sensitive building code to revamp its own regulations in the near future.
Like California, British Columbia has also paid little heed to federal sensibilities and struck out on its own.
It's joined several regional climate initiatives and an international group in a bid to formulate a workable system to cap industrial emissions and allow trading in so-called carbon credits.
The official said that mechanism alone has the potential to reduce harmful emissions from the industrial and oil and gas sector by another seven million to 10 million tonnes by 2020.
New Democrat environment critic Shane Simpson is bothered by the lack of detail around the government's climate action plan.
"The secrecy of this has been astounding, the whole secrecy of the climate change strategy,'' he said.
Simpson called on the Liberals to match the tabling of its climate legislation with the release of the action plan, or at the very least, an outline of where the government feels it will have to go to reach that "aggressive'' target.
