Halting the Expansion of Thermal Coal Exports in BC
Archive ∙ Back to Island Voices
May 2014
On February 11th, 2014, the first day of the spring session the B.C. Legislature, Lieutenant-Governor, Judith Guichon, delivered the B.C. government’s latest speech from the throne, which focused heavily on the development of BC’s liquefied natural gas industry as a means for reducing carbon emissions. However, while LNG exports from B.C. could decrease Asian emissions by reducing their dependency on coal fired power generation, it will absolutely increase our own provincial emissions forcing us to throw away our climate targets. Instead, a stronger plan for reducing global carbon emissions would be to stop exports of thermal coal through B.C. Therefore, in response to the Throne Speech I tabled a motion for amendment to stop the future expansion of thermal coal exports in British Columbia:
Notice to Amend a Motion – And that this, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, recognizes that climate change is one of the greatest issues facing our Province and that this government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is inconsistent with the current expansion of United States-sourced thermal coal exports coming through British Columbia’s harbours, and therefore calls upon this government to follow the lead of our Pacific Coast Action Plan Partners, Washington, Oregon and California, and explore all means by which the government may halt the further expansion of thermal coal exports in British Columbia.
The amendment was defeated 73-1.
Despite the fact that the amendment did not pass, the expansion of thermal coal exports in our province is a pressing matter that must be addressed.
By 2015, British Columbia is expected to increase its coal exports to 65 million tonnes per year. Of this 65 million tonnes, the province itself only produces 30 million, the majority of which is metallurgical coal used for steel manufacturing in Japan, Korea and China. The remaining roughly 40 million tonnes is a mix of thermal and metallurgical coal, originating mostly in the US and Alberta.
Washington, Oregon and California have all said no to the export of excess thermal coal through their ports. Yet here in BC there continues to be a push for the expansion of this industry. Over the last decade thermal coal shipments across BC have risen dramatically, accounting for 30-40% of all coal exported through BC today. This number is expected to rise.
However, not only are there very few jobs associated with coal export in BC, but coal combustion is also the dirtiest way to produce electricity. In fact, many countries, including China and the United States, have recently announced their plans to reduce their dependency on coal fired power generation and move to renewable energy sources.
It is plain to see that the market for thermal coal exports is shrinking and yet there continues to be a push in BC for industry expansion. Instead of continuing this push, let’s join our partners in the new Pacific Coast Action Plan and say no to the export of excess thermal coal through our ports. To read more about thermal coal exports in BC and my motion to amend the throne speech, please click here.
Best Wishes,
Andrew