B.C. premier's green plan won't achieve target: opposition

TheB.C. government's plan to cut greenhouse-gas emissions isn't sitting well with its opposition but has won some praise from an environmental group.

The green plan, unveiled byPremier Gordon Campbell Friday morning, includes introducing legislation toreduce greenhouse-gasemissions33 per cent below current levels by 2020.

But Campbell only delivered "a lot of hot air and empty promises," said Shane Simpson, environment critic for the B.C. New Democratic Party.

"We need to reduce our emissions by 40 million tonnes in the next 13 years. If we don't invest immediately in transit, B.C. will never meet that target," Simpson said.

Environmental Defence, a group that focuses oncritical environmental and health issues,said Campbell is on the right track.

"That was a fantastic move today to actually put these things into law," said Matt Price, the organization's project managerfor energy and climate issues in B.C. "It's going to be what drives the agenda for the long term."

Simpson said the premier's lack of support for transit shows that the Campbell government has the wrong priorities.

"Communities across British Columbia are demanding immediate investments in transit to help reduce greenhouse gases," Simpson said. "But Campbell's Gateway doesn't deliver any alternative transit options until the bridge is built seven years from now."

The Liberal government announcedthe $3-billion Gateway transportation plan in January 2006, which includes a new bridge over the Pitt River — a Fraser River tributary east of Vancouver—andtwinning the Port Mann bridge, which connectsSurrey and Coquitlam.