Josie Osborne, B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, was in Nelson on March 22 for a public meeting about energy issues hosted by MLA Brittny Anderson.
She said BC Hydro “will be issuing a call in the next few weeks for adding more renewables, wind, maybe solar, utility scale battery projects.” One questioner stated there is increasing evidence that the amount of “fugitive emissions” of methane from industry and agriculture have long been seriously under-estimated. Osborne did not disagree with this, and the questioner asked if the government is going to begin counting methane releases more accurately.Osborne told the questioner that she is unable to answer the technical aspects of the question but someone from the ministry could get back to him.
She said the Mineral Tenure Act is being re-written now, and “we’re going to need everybody at the table to do that. So it’s a balancing act, always.” Will the government, he asked, commit to bring bonding in line with the true costs of pollution of water and the landscapes in British Columbia? The Zero Carbon Step Code measures the amount of carbon emissions from a building that result from heating or cooling. It is set up in steps: moderate, strong, and zero carbon.