2017 - BC Promises To Extend Carbon Tax To Slash Logging Burning; 2020 - Nah, Fuck That, Burn Away!
Opponents of the widespread practice of burning wood waste at logging sites across British Columbia say the government is backpedalling on a commitment to suppress the controversial practice by subjecting it to the carbon tax.
When George Heyman became Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in July 2017, Premier John Horgan instructed him to extend the carbon tax to so-called “slash-pile burning” operations. The thinking was that the tax would force the industry to alter course. But nearly three years into the government’s mandate, the tax has not been extended and Heyman’s ministry won’t say if and when it will be.
“Government is committed to fighting carbon pollution in a way that puts people first and supports the transition to a low-carbon economy,” the ministry said in an emailed response to questions from The Narwhal. “We are committed to working directly with industry to develop a strategy to strike a balance between industrial competitiveness and our goal of cutting carbon emissions.” Yet some say the province’s delay is creating a cascade of problems as slash-pile emissions inflate B.C.’s climate impacts, heighten air quality concerns and lead to industrial practices that see valuable wood products going up in smoke.
EDIT
One of the justifications given for such burning is that it reduces the hazard of future wildfires. Under B.C.’s Wildfire Act, waste wood piles are considered a hazard, and typically the way logging companies choose to deal with the hazard is by burning the piles. But Chipeniuk said there’s little evidence to back up the claim that slash-burning is a wildfire preventive. “Almost no research beyond modelling studies supports the idea that burning slash reduces wildfire for more than a few years,” he said. Meanwhile, huge numbers of trees are being logged high up on the hillsides and mountains above Chipeniuk’s home in the Bulkley Valley and many of them end up being burned, even though they could be turned into forest products instead. Proof of that is not far from where Chipeniuk lives.
EDIT
https://thenarwhal.ca/up-in-smoke-b-c-backtracks-on-promise-to-deter-logging-industry-from-burning-wood-waste/
