BC ill prepared to cope with climate change: auditor general

B.C. will not meet its 2020 greenhouse gas emission targets and is not adequately prepared to mitigate the impact of fire, flooding and drought precipitated by climate change, says B.C. Auditor General Carol Bellringer. In an audit of B.C. climate change policies and the province’s ability to address both risk and adaptation, Bellinger confirmed what the B.C. government already has admitted: it is not on track to meet its interim 2020 targets of reducing greenhouse gases by 33% below 2007 levels by 2020. But it’s also unlikely to meet its longer-range targets either, Bellringer concludes, with its current climate change policies, and says carbon taxes alone are insufficient tools for reducing GHGs. …Bellringer said that the province needs to do a better job of reducing “fuel” (i.e. dead wood) in B.C. forests in areas most at risk for fires.