BC NDP

Gordon Campbell likes to say he has a good environmental record, but are these really the actions of a ‘green' premier? 

1. On offshore oil: Gordon Campbell is pushing for increased offshore oil and gas exploration. He's been working with Exxon-Mobil on a PR campaign. During a trip to Asia, Campbell told business leaders that B.C.'s oil and gas reserves could be developed within a few short years, and this summer his finance minister, Colin Hansen, said that offshore drilling would fit in nicely with our climate change goals.
2. On salmon farming: Gordon Campbell ignored the recommendations of the all-party aquaculture committee that he struck, and refuses to consider a precautionary approach to protecting our wild salmon stocks. Even though aquaculture companies themselves are coming to the realization that closed containment needs to be the standard in B.C., Campbell refuses to come to the table with support.
3. On species at risk: B.C. is only one of two provinces without legal protection for species at risk. Gordon Campbell fails to recognize the importance of habitat protection, and wants to exempt the vast majority of species at risk from any new laws.
4. On old growth forests: As our old growth forests are carved up, Gordon Campbell refuses to scale back old growth logging. In addition, he has given over hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest land to real estate development, and dramatically increased the rate of raw log exports from our province.
5. On pollution: While he's eager to bring in a gas tax for ordinary consumers, Gordon Campbell is content to let big polluters responsible for 30 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions off the hook until at least 2012. Even while the Alberta government has brought in new rules restricting destructive practices like flaring at oil wells, Gordon Campbell refuses to bring in tougher rules for big polluters.
6. On private power projects: Despite mounting public concern over private power projects, Gordon Campbell is pushing for more of the same and has refused to take stock of the cumulative impact of hundred of these projects on watersheds and communities across the province.
7. On food security: Under Gordon Campbell, the ALR has come under increasing attack, resulting in the erosion of food security and increased urban sprawl. Gordon Campbell has also ignored the concerns of small-scale farmers as his government shifts to new rules that favour industrial agriculture, and small farmers across the province are being put out of business.
8. On toxins: Despite a growing concern about toxins in our food and environment, Gordon Campbell has refused to support new rules to ban harmful pesticides from cosmetic use where children play, and has refused to support labeling of carcinogenic substances and GMOs in food products.
9. Campbell's record of cuts: We still haven't recovered from the deep cuts that Gordon Campbell made during his first term in office, including slashing the budget for ministries responsible for environmental protection by up to 44 per cent, eliminating the Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, laying off conservation staff, and opening up parks to commercial development.

A real commitment to the environment isn't just a one-shot, ineffective gas tax. That's why Carole James and the New Democrats are fighting for a comprehensive environmental strategy, including real climate action, strong environmental protection, tough rules on polluters, a moratorium on offshore oil and gas development, and protection of habitat throughout the province.