The greenhouse gas pollution produced by the wells, pipelines, processing plants and liquefaction facilities needed to fulfill British Columbia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) aspirations will make it impossible for the province to meet its climate change commitments. Yet, the province says it still intends to “maintain leadership on climate change and clean energy.”

Having trouble squaring that circle? You wouldn’t be alone.

In the weeks following the throne speech, both the B.C. budget and the new B.C. Energy Plan showed little of the forward-thinking and innovative approaches that characterized the speech.

The government has announced a number of first steps towards its target for 2020 - to cut BC's emissions by 33 per cent below current levels. But are they enough?

British Columbia's carbon tax holds the potential to inspire a new vision: to transform the economy from the brown, carbon-based solutions of the past to the clean, green sustainable solutions of the future.

Just as British Columbia passes the first carbon tax in Canada into law, a new poll by McAllister Opinion Research has revealed that more than 70 per cent of Canadians support British Columbia's carbon tax as a "positive step" towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

With the passage of the omnibus budget bill, the Harper government has begun downloading oversight and dismantling environmental protection in order to expedite oilsands development and pipelines to new markets. Harper’s cabinet ministers frequently remind Canadians that increased oilsands development is needed to generate the tax revenue needed to support delivery of the services and programs we all hold dear, like education and healthcare.

But over the past several months that mantra has been challenged, with various think-tanks, analysts and pundits fuelling an important discussion about the economic impacts — both positive and negative — of booming oilsands development.

As British Columbia and the rest of the world grapple with increasing evidence of dangerous climate change, there is a new urgency to find solutions. From carbon taxes to home energy retrofits, there is no shortage of proposals — but is there a quick fix? Enter carbon capture and storage, or CCS as it is known by industry...

The announcement of a pending review of the carbon tax provides an opportunity to build a better B.C.

If carbon taxes really did kill private sector jobs, you wouldn't expect to find this statement on the website of B.C.'s largest emitter, Spectra Energy: "We believe that a workable federal climate change program should . . . provide certainty about costs of compliance, preferably through a simple, efficient, revenue-neutral carbon tax."

British Columbians have made it clear that they are committed to taking action on global warming. Emboldened by this support, the B.C. government has demonstrated continental leadership by legislating reductions in carbon pollution, shifting taxes away from British Columbians' income and onto pollution (reducing taxes on a good thing and increasing them on a bad one)...

Marlo Raynolds argues that the real challenge for Canada's Prime Minister is whether he is able to create a made-in-Canada climate plan — or leave it to American lawmakers to decide our climate and, therefore, economic policy.

Imagine going into a bank to apply for pre-approval for a mortgage. You don't have a steady income, so instead you present 10 cheques. They're one-time-only payments from anonymous sources and they don't amount to much of a down payment.

The bank would tell you to go home, get a steady job and come back when you've got long-term employment. Until then, you're wasting their time.

As oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico, the consequences of a spill from the proposed Enbridge oilsands pipeline and related tanker traffic are all the more real.

Last week, energy consultant Aldyen Donnelly presented a dizzying array of numbers and claims to criticize a recent study on British Columbia’s carbon tax that was co-authored by the Pembina Institute and the Energy and Materials Research Group at Simon Fraser University.

The problem is, Donnelly’s numbers ignored much of the important evidence on B.C.’s carbon tax and similar policies around the world.

Whether it is the federal government’s ongoing campaign against carbon taxes or the lack of discussion in other parts of the country, most Canadians hear very little about the fact that the country’s west coast is home to one of the world’s best climate policies.

The BC Transmission Corporation (BCTC) ran open houses last month regarding a proposed 287 kV power line. Is the BCTC truly considering the needs of northern B.C. communities?

Wild salmon are in trouble in British Columbia, and they face yet another threat in the form of a pipeline proposed by Enbridge to bring oilsands products through their habitat to the coast.

If you show up at the landfill with a truck full of garbage, you have to pay to dump it. But if you pump pollution into the atmosphere, most Canadian jurisdictions provide a free dumping ground.

Canada needs more light and less heat on the economic impacts of oilsands expansion.

When it comes to energy issues, the list of things that are apparently too “divisive” to discuss seems to grow by the day — from climate change and pollution reduction, to a national energy strategy, and most recently the impacts of booming oilsands development across the Canadian economy.

If you're like me, debates about carbon taxes, cap-and-trade systems, carbon neutral requirements and other climate policies excite you. If you're like most people, you're probably more interested in the bigger picture — the one that often gets lost in the policy details.

When it comes to climate policy, the bigger picture is whether or not we can avert a global warming crisis. For Canada and other developed countries, this means overhauling the way we produce and use energy as well as helping developing countries carve a clean path forward. Globally, we have a responsibility to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and we don't have much time to do it.