Balanced Budget 2008 provides an additional $1 billion over four years for
operating and capital expenditures and tax incentives to encourage
environmentally responsible choices, implement new regulatory requirements,
undertake cutting‑edge research, and make needed low‑carbon investments.
New climate action initiatives include:
- $98 million for the new
LiveSmartBC: Efficiency Incentive Program and other initiatives to
encourage individuals and communities to make more energy-efficient choices
for their homes, businesses and vehicles;
- $370 million for capital
and operating expenses to improve and expand public transportation in
British Columbia;
- $33 million for
transportation initiatives to reduce emissions from commercial truck and
ship traffic at B.C.’s ports and in technology to reduce idling at
truck-stop and weigh-scale locations;
- $130 million in capital
and operating expenses for a carbon‑neutral
public sector by 2010, including energy-efficiency retrofits for public
buildings, establishing the Pacific Carbon Trust, and the use of desktop
video-conferencing technology and low-carbon procurement practices;
- $9 million for key
commitments from the 2007 throne speech and the Energy Plan such as
designing a Green Building Code, creating emissions standards for
landfills and new motor vehicles, and developing a “cap and trade” system
for large greenhouse gas emitters;
- $57 million for bioenergy
and alternative energy solutions such as establishing a Bioenergy Network,
introducing a biodiesel production incentive, expanding solar thermal
energy systems, and supporting the Innovative Clean Energy Fund;
- $98 million for climate
change research through an endowment to the Pacific Institute for Climate
Solutions and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, and to undertake a
feasibility analysis on carbon capture and storage technology for natural
gas production;
- $111 million – including
$62 million for contingencies to develop additional climate action
solutions – to undertake stakeholder consultations, establish and fund the
Citizens’ Conservation Council, assist the Climate Action Team, and
support public outreach to promote greener choices;
- $31 million to support
innovation in the pulp and paper industry to further reduce its carbon
footprint and enhance the carbon storage potential of B.C. forests;
- $49 million to improve
B.C.’s ability to adapt to climate change implications, including funds to
enhance climate data collection systems and funding for flood protection
and planning;
- $15 million over three
years to increase the equity tax credit budget by $5 million per year and
set a tax credit budget of $7.5 million for clean technology businesses;
- Expanding intellectual
property to include green-related patents;
- $33 million to provide tax
relief for the purchase of conventional fuel-efficient vehicles that meet
the fuel efficiency criteria set out in the federal government’s ecoAuto
rebate program;
- Providing PST exemptions
for:
- ENERGY
STAR-qualified residential refrigerators, clothes washers and freezers,
- energy-efficient
residential gas fired water heaters, insulation for hot water tanks, hot
and cold water pipes, and ductwork,
- production
machinery and equipment for local governments for power production and
cogeneration,
- biodiesel fuel
or portion of biodiesel fuel for heating, and
- aerodynamic
devices for commercial tractor-trailer vehicles;
- Providing relief from
passenger vehicle rental tax for rentals of eight hours or less;
- Expanding the PST
exemption on bicycles to include electric-assisted two and three wheel
cycles and non‑motorized adult tricycles;
- Reducing the tax payable
on electric motorcycles;
- Reducing PST payable on
hydrogen fuel cell buses to match the tax reduction available for other
alternative fuel buses;
- Repealing PST exemption on
purchases of coal and coke, except for residential use; and
- Classifying biodiesel and
ethanol as alternative motor fuels for all purposes.
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For the Finance Minister’s speech and more details on Balanced Budget 2008, visit www.gov.bc.ca/bcbudget
online.
