BC Greens interim leader Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, said on Tuesday that the BC NDP’s decision to financially support another liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is irresponsible.

“The commitment of $200 million in public funds to transmission lines, transformers and electrification for Cedar LNG, a majority-owned First Nations project, prolongs our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Valeriote.

He noted: “Fossil fuel expansion contradicts achieving the Province’s legislated emissions reduction targets—which we have already failed to meet. We pushed for a robust, independent review of climate policies in our Cooperation and Responsible Government Accord and will continue to push this government to take climate change seriously.”

Valeriote said: “Meanwhile, the Premier and Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions continue to greenwash LNG, marketing it as the lowest-emission LNG in the world, without providing any evidence to support this claim. BC’s LNG is also more expensive than other jurisdictions, who are producing LNG at a fraction of the cost.

“The government’s continued inaction when it comes to the climate, and their disingenuous greenwashing of LNG as “clean” energy is a distraction from their climate action failures. Publicly subsidizing LNG expansion is not a “clean” way forward and harms climate and communities upstream from fracking. Recently, the Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions tweaked a previous policy requiring LNG facilities to be net-zero by 2030. Now, these facilities only need to have a net-zero “plan” by 2030—not the infrastructure.

“Instead of continuing to funnel public money into LNG, the Province should invest in economic pathways that support long-term sustainability, public health, and community well-being.”