Officials spark backlash after rerouting funds to questionable companies: 'Billionaires do not need money back'

Environmental advocates in British Columbia have called out a government program purportedly directed at growing the region's clean energy industry for disbursing funds back to highly profitable natural gas companies, Canada's National Observer reported.

"The bottom line is wealthy fossil fuel billionaires do not need money back from the B.C. government to continue to subsidize an industry that's bad for our health," said Melissa Lem, president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. 

What's happening?

The CleanBC Industry fund claims that it supports "new industry projects that will create local jobs, strengthen local communities, and grow British Columbia's clean industry," according to a government website. 

However, critics have pointed out that most of the funding, which comes from a tax on carbon pollution, has gone back to the same heavily polluting companies that the funding was supposed to help phase out. 

"It's like taxing tobacco producers and then giving them the money back to put filters on their cigarettes," said Lem, per Canada's National Observer. 

During 2024, 37 different projects received 127.7 million Canadian dollars ($93.3 million) in funding from the CleanBC Industry fund. Of this money, more than three-quarters was awarded to natural gas companies for carbon sequestration or electrification projects to reduce those companies' net carbon outputs, according to government data. 

Critics have argued that this amounts to greenwashing, diverting funds that were supposed to be used to develop cleaner energy solutions into subsidies for heavily polluting, and highly profitable, gas companies. 

"It's a form of subsidy to some pretty profitable industries that really should be able to stand on their own two feet and do this work," said Jeremy Valeriote, leader of the BC Green Party. 

While acknowledging that the projects do reduce the amount of heat-trapping pollution being released at various facilities, Valeriote argued that the funds could have a bigger impact if spent elsewhere. 

"It could go a long way to make a tangible difference in people's lives that also drives down emissions like public transit and building retrofits that could help rebuild [public] support for climate action," he said, per the publication. 

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Lem agreed. 

"Essentially, investing in our health care system and the health of people across B.C. has to come before industry handouts, and that can also mean investing in and subsidizing renewable energy, not more fracking and LNG [projects]," she said, referring to liquified natural gas. 

Why does it matter?

According to the United Nations, 75% of all heat-trapping pollution and 90% of all carbon dioxide pollution comes from the burning of extracted, nonrenewable fuels such as natural gas and coal.

Additionally, burning these fuels releases health-harming pollution that can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, lung cancer, diabetes, and more, according to the U.N. 

Therefore, in order to reverse the trend of rising global temperatures and improve public health, it is necessary to transition economies away from these fuels and toward cleaner, renewable sources such as solar. 

As governments around the world search for ways to accelerate and streamline these changes, one popular solution has been carbon taxes. 

By placing a price on pollution, a carbon tax forces companies to internalize the costs of the pollution they create. Such a tax, in theory, can also generate revenue that can be used to boost environmentally friendly solutions such as public transportation or renewable energy power plants.

However, the controversy surrounding the CleanBC Industry fund has highlighted that, in practice, these programs require transparency and strong oversight to ensure the funding is directed to appropriate projects and is not used to subsidize the same polluting industries that are paying the taxes. 

What's being done about it?

By calling out what they see as the misallocation of CleanBC Industry fund dollars, groups such as the BC Greens and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment are seeking to hold the government accountable.

To engage in similar advocacy and push for these kinds of programs in your area, you can use your voice, contact your elected representatives, and support planet-friendly candidates. 

Going a step further, driving an electric vehicle and installing solar panels on your home will save you money on gas and electricity while also reducing heat-trapping, health-harming pollution. 

With federal tax credits for EVs ending Sept. 30 and credits for home solar ending Dec. 31, it's important to act soon if you want to take advantage. Solar systems can take up to 12 weeks to be permitted and installed, but EnergySage has a great, Expedia-like tool for comparing local quotes and companies that's worth exploring.

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