Thread by @tracey_saxby

@AJWVictoriaBC It seems rather arrogant to say there is nothing special about 1.5C when an entire IPCC report was built to analyze the difference between 1.5C and 2C and what that means for all life on earth, with a clearly stated goal to limit warming to 1.5C.
ipcc.ch/sr15/

@AJWVictoriaBC Matthews et al 2021 calculated that there is a 17% chance that the remaining carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5 °C has already been exceeded.

Rather than climate doom-ism, I would much rather focus on that 83% chance and advocate for climate action.
nature.com/articles/s4324…

@AJWVictoriaBC The pathway is pretty clear. Ripple et al 2020 and 2021 call for transformative and rapid change.

It's been signed by 13,800+ scientists.

doi.org/10.1093/biosci…

@AJWVictoriaBC I summarized this article in this thread here:

https://twitter.com/tracey_saxby/status/1421175738519015427

@AJWVictoriaBC Scientists list 6 key actions:

1) Eliminate fossil fuels and shift to renewables.
2) Slash short-lived air pollutants like black carbon, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons.
3) Protect and restore nature to capture carbon and protect biodiversity.

@AJWVictoriaBC 4) Switch to plant-based diets, reduce food waste, and improve cropping practices.
5) Move from GDP growth and overconsumption to ecological economics and a circular economy, where prices reflect the full environmental cost of goods and services.
6) Decrease the human population.

@AJWVictoriaBC Scientists also call for three short-term policies:
1) Global implementation of a significant carbon price;
2) Global phase-out and ban of fossil fuels;
3) Development of strategic climate reserves to protect and restore natural carbon sinks and biodiversity.

@AJWVictoriaBC So let's look at the CleanBC roadmap to 2030:

It completely fails to eliminate fossil fuels or address the increase in fracking due to LNG exports.

One speaker at the press conference praised LNG in every other sentence. This is a false climate solution.

@AJWVictoriaBC There is no commitment to invest in renewable energy from solar or wind to diversify our energy grid or build a more resilient energy grid.

Yes, we're "lucky" we have "renewable" hydro, but SiteC is a boondoggle that you supported (thanks for that).

@AJWVictoriaBC There is a commitment to slashing fugitive methane by 75%, which is good, but is it enough? And the Feds require that anyway, so can we really say BC is a leader on this? Given the warming potential of methane, the focus should be on cleaning this up as quickly as possible.

@AJWVictoriaBC There's a commitment to clean up orphan wells, but every single @bcndp MLA voted last week to let oil & gas producers have more time to clean up their mess. These wells are spewing climate destroying methane as we speak. This is not an emergency response.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp There is nothing in the plan that I can find about protecting nature. The UN recommends protecting 30% of marine and terrestrial ecosystems by 2030. Maybe this is outside the purview of CleanBC, but this is a big gap.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp There is a plan to restore forests, plant trees, and rehabilitate carbon sinks, but I find this kind of futile given how quickly the @bcndp are cutting down old growth forests which are critical carbon sinks, and it will be a long time before new trees can capture as much CO2.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp There is a commitment to local, sustainable food production, and regenerative agriculture, which is good.

We're missing anything related to encouraging more plant-based diets. We may not need to all be vegan, but we can reduce portion sizes of meat and eat much less of it.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp I'm excited to see a commitment to exploring seaweed aquaculture, provided that there is research to ensure no other adverse environmental effects.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp The commitment to a circular economy to reduce waste I approach with caution, given that less than 10% of the plastics we've used have been recycled.

This needs to change dramatically to achieve a circular economy.
cbc.ca/documentaries/…

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp We also need to focus on reducing consumption. There was good news yesterday, with @GeorgeHeyman introduction of Bill 24, Environmental Management Amendment Act, which expands restrictions on single-use and short-term plastic products and packaging.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman This bill empowers the province to ban single-use plastic entirely, and I am thrilled about that, given that I kickstarted a grassroots campaign to eliminate plastic shopping bags across Canada, way back in 2007.
Thank you @GeorgeHeyman!
vimeo.com/42844739

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman Does a circular economy measure up to "Move from GDP growth and overconsumption to ecological economics?" Not quite. It's missing human well-being, sustainability, and justice. It's also missing ecological boundaries.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman We definitely need a move away from GDP growth, and to change how we measure and define success. Nanaimo has adopted Kate Raworth's doughnut economy, perhaps BC should explore that?

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman There's nothing in there about decreasing the human population, but that makes sense as Canada's population growth rate is low. We are going to have to prepare to accept massive numbers of climate refugees.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman There is a commitment to a carbon price which is great. It still seems very low compared to carbon pricing in Europe. I need someone to compare projections for BC and Canada vs the rest of the world. When BC finally hits $170/tonne, how does that compare globally?

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman Re: phase-out and ban of fossil fuels, this is an epic fail as BC is doubling down on fracking and LNG exports. You had a chance to help shut LNG down but didn't take it. So now there's a massive emissions gap, and this is why the budget doesn't add up, and why BC can't do more.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman Re: protection of carbon sinks, see my point above about protecting nature. It's not in the plan.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman So there are some massive gaps in BC's "world leading" climate action plan, which isn't really world leading at all. It's incrementalism, and a clear lack of political will to do what is necessary to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman Because let's be clear: this is all about political will. If BC truly wants to be a climate leader, it must commit to ending fossil fuels and supporting workers and the communities that rely on them as we rapidly make that transition. This is all do-able.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman In my opinion this is a missed opportunity for truly visionary action. As a result, BC will be left behind and we'll have to deal with an unmanaged, inequitable, and chaotic decline instead of a well-planned phase-out of oil and gas.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman The workers that @jjhorgan supposedly cares about are the ones that will be hurt the most, because the longer we take to transition, the greater the disruption and shocks to the workforce, not to mention the stranded oil and gas assets that taxpayers will have to pay to clean up.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan But to get back to your original post. What I find most offensive is this idea that people protest for the sake of protesting. I've spent eight years fighting to stop Woodfibre LNG, and I wish the damn thing would just go away. I'm sick of it. Fake FIDs. Corruption. Lies.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan The first four years were as a volunteer. I had a full-time, good-paying job, and I was working a full-time volunteer job on top of that. I had no life. I barely saw my friends. I rarely went outside. It was completely unsustainable. I don't do this for sh*ts and giggles.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan When I transitioned to working for My Sea to Sky, I started at 20 hours a week of paid time which is all that the organization could afford. My hourly rate is still a quarter of what I can make as a consultant. Plus 40 hours of volunteer time per week on top of that.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan I'm now at 32 hours of paid time per week, which would be my work/life balance goal, except that never happens. We are under-resourced and the work never stops, so I work nights, I work weekends, I wake up at 4am because I can't sleep at night due to climate anxiety.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan Why the f*ck would I want to be an activist Andrew? Please tell me why. I would much rather do anything else. I do this from sheer desperation.

But we've delayed construction for Woodfibre LNG for six years, so yay us! #peoplepower

We shouldn't have to waste our time on this.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan If government truly took a leadership role, we wouldn't have to. I could focus on the solutions-based campaigns that make me excited. I have an entire campaign called the #ZeroCarbonChallenge designed to catalyze climate action from the ground up. Let me work on that.

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan Oh, and by the way, we've read the plan. It f*cking sucks, because here I am, still having to be a f*cking activist.

#bcpoli

@AJWVictoriaBC @bcndp @GeorgeHeyman @jjhorgan @threadreaderapp unroll