NDP sells out environmentalists for politics, labour movement

Now that the election is officially under way and the NDP has released their platform, it’s hilarious watching them try to skate out of the fact that their environmental policies are so wrong that former friends in the environmental movement are dissing the NDP from every corner.

First Tzeporah Berman, one of the most respected environmentalists in this country, let alone this province, said the NDP were off their rockers denouncing green power production. Then John Horgan of the NDP tried to deny that his party would kill all run-of-river power projects, in one of the funniest radio flip flops ever.

And now a whole group of major BC environmentalists, including the prestigious David Suzuki Foundation, get together to say that eliminating the carbon tax was a daft idea. Oh, and did you read the report from Mark Jaccard of SFU who says the NDP’s climate change policies would exempt about 65 per cent of BC’s emissions, and would cause company closings and the loss of 30,000 direct and 60,000 indirect jobs.

Media and blogger coverage of this has been everywhere. But perhaps our favourite article was from the Globe and Mail’s Gary Mason, who called the NDP’s policies “shortsighted,” “uninspiring,” “wrongheaded” and “dangerous.” As Mason says:

“So what if it was a position fundamentally at odds with the views held by a vast swath of their supporters? Or that it made a mockery of the NDP's core values?

Was this the best the New Democrats could do to distinguish themselves from the provincial Liberals? …it might gain the NDP a few votes in the north, they will come at a terrible cost elsewhere.”

Why are the NDP against environmentalists? Because their public union backers don’t want any energy, green or otherwise, developed in BC unless it is under their control. So they chose labour over green and over youth who see the future in environmentalism.

Carole James and the NDP. Wrong party, wrong leader, wrong time.

A nice wednesday bit of NDP inconsistency

The NDP’s energy critic, John Horgan was on CKNW last Friday trying to dig his way out of a hole. Guest host Michael Smyth asked why the NDP(click the link to listen), who have come out strongly opposed to independent power production (IPP), support an IPP in Lytton.

Horgan touts the old party line that the NDP would put a moratorium on IPPs (despite environmentalists like Tzeporah Berman being in favour of them). But maybe not the ones already approved. Huh?

Smyth calls him out, saying “But, look, I thought you said the other day that you like this Lytton project because they need the power there, they’ve been having brownouts there and that it’s a good project in that respect. Now you’re telling me you wouldn’t approve it.”

And Horgan has the audacity to claim he’s being consistent.

Horgan: I'm not changing my position, Mike, but this is a much larger debate than a small micro-hydro project that will service a community that's underserviced today…the fact that the First Nations in Lytton have a power purchase agreement from B.C. Hydro, a contract to provide electricity to the community, means that that debate is over. The debate that we should be having….

Smyth: Yeah, but if you guys were in power, you wouldn't approve it.

Horgan: I'm not in power, Mike. You might have noticed that.

Thank heavens for that!

Perhaps our favourite line, though, goes to Smyth: “I think you’re making up your policy on the fly here.”

Carole James and the NDP. Wrong party, Wrong leader, Wrong time.

NDP have magic wand to make clean power appear!

A recent ad in the BC NDP’s magazine, The Democrat, calls for a rally to stop independent power projects (see page 8). But prominent environmentalists have said IPPs should continue. Tzeporah Berman who heads PowerUp Canada told Bill Good on CKNW on January 22, 2009.

“I think we need to see a lot more support for green power in this province than we’ve been seeing in the public…the opposition that we’re seeing in British Columbia…to the move towards green power…needs to be rethought.”

“What I’m saying is we need to support the move to green power. We need to reduce carbon emissions, as a priority. And yes, we need to do it smart; we need to be careful about our rivers. But the fact is we need to support the move to green power.”

In seven of the past ten years, BC has been a net importer of dirty electricity from the U.S. and Alberta. Carole James’ NDP say they are for clean power, but have opposed every clean energy project in the province. They’re against all Independent Power Producers, even calling for a moratorium on every proposed project.

The NDP oppose the 45 operating independent power production projects that are providing badly needed construction and operating jobs in rural and First Nations communities. In March 2008, they called for a moratorium on future developments of power projects.

Environmentalists say we need green power. Independent Power Producers are creating green power for our province, and creating jobs in needed areas. Do we really want Carole James and the BC NDP deciding energy policy for our province?

Wrong party. Wrong leader. Wrong time.
www.votesmartbc.com