The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) submitted a comprehensive critique to the CleanBC Independent Review Panel, highlighting the urgent need for a credible climate plan that prioritizes public health and meets the province’s legislated emissions targets.

The BC government launched the review panel in May to evaluate CleanBC, the province’s emissions-reduction plan, following a report that confirmed BC is significantly off course to meet its climate commitments. Emissions are projected to be only 2.6% below 2007 levels this year, far short of the 16% reduction target, and only 20% below 2007 levels by 2030, half of the 40% reduction target.

“British Columbians are paying the cost for the fossil fuel industry twice–once with their health as pollution triggers asthma and heart disease, and again with their wallets as our healthcare system strains under these preventable illnesses,” said Dr. Melissa Lem, family physician and president of CAPE. “BC has an opportunity to build a world-class renewable energy sector that ensures long-term energy security, affordability and healthier communities. The smart path forward is to accelerate the buildout of renewable energy projects in BC, securing good jobs, affordable energy for households and businesses, and a safer, healthier future.”

CAPE physicians highlight health harms of fracking and LNG

Medical and scientific studies show that producing and burning fossil fuels have significant human health implications, especially for communities near fracking and LNG infrastructure. These communities face higher risks of disease and mortality, with Indigenous and rural populations being disproportionately affected.

“BC’s continued support for fracked gas and LNG expansion is fundamentally incompatible with our climate goals and is creating a public health crisis,” said Dr. Lem. “The $48.3-billion LNG Canada project alone is expected to increase BC’s emissions by approximately 4-million tonnes of CO2 per year, with an additional 36-million tonnes annually when the exported gas is burned abroad.”

Dr. Tim Takaro, a CAPE physician-scientist who specializes in climate change’s health impacts, criticized the province’s piecemeal approach to permitting fossil fuel-infrastructure projects. This process doesn’t adequately consider the cumulative health impacts of emissions in areas with multiple fossil fuel-industry facilities.

“We cannot be lackadaisical about meeting emissions targets,” Dr. Takaro said. “Missing targets means higher emissions, leading to higher temperatures, more extreme weather, more wildfires, and more deaths. The health costs of climate change and fossil fuel development are already enormous and growing.” 

Dr. Lem pointed to other problems in communities near fracking operations in northeastern BC, which have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes and respiratory disease. 

“At least seven doctors have closed their practices and left Dawson Creek, citing the health and community impacts of the LNG industry as a primary reason,” Dr. Lem said. “This represents nearly 40% of the physician workforce in a region that desperately needs healthcare providers.”

Climate change and climate-related events, which are worsened by producing and burning fossil fuels, have a direct, immense impact on healthcare costs. The government of Canada estimates the annual medical costs associated with wildfire smoke between 2013 and 2018 was $410 million to $1.8 billion for short-term health effects and $4.3 billion to $19 billion for long-term health effects. The 2021 heat dome in BC contributed to more than $12 million in healthcare costs and 619 deaths.

Recommended changes to CleanBC

CAPE’s submission identifies several critical areas where CleanBC falls short:

1. Lack of a credible pathway to meet 2025 and 2030 climate targets
2. Failure to address the serious health impacts of fracking and LNG development
3. Insufficient action on building emissions and zero-carbon construction
4. Overreliance on industry self-regulation
5. Inadequate attention to indoor air pollution from gas stoves
6. Delayed implementation of transportation emission-reduction strategies

The organization is calling on the BC government to take immediate action, including:

1. Enacting a moratorium on all new hydraulic fracturing development until an  independent, cumulative, and comprehensive health impact assessment is completed
2. Strengthening regulations and monitoring protocols to reduce air and water pollution from current operations
3. Ending natural gas tie-ins to all new buildings by the end of 2025
4. Accelerating province-wide mandatory zero carbon construction
5. Implementing explicit policies to eliminate gas appliances for healthier indoor air
6. Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to support healthcare systems strained by climate impacts

The CleanBC Independent Review Panel is taking public feedback until August 1. The panel is expected to provide recommendations to the provincial government later this year.