For Immediate Release

Aug. 17, 2010

PREMIER LOBBYING LEGISLATORS IN CALIFORNIA ON BEHALF OF HIS FRIENDS INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH HST AT HOME

VICTORIA— Instead of using our tax dollars to lobby lawmakers in California on behalf of his friends in the private power industry, B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell should be focused on listening to voters at home, say New Democrats.

Rather than dealing with the fallout from the HST petition here in British Columbia, Premier Campbell has been in California lobbying against Proposition 23, a measure that would put the brakes on the state’s plan to purchase more green energy.

“The problem with Premier Campbell’s appeal to California legislators to defeat Prop 23 is that B.C. run-of-river projects have too many negative environmental impacts to be considered green energy,” asserted Guy Gentner, New Democrat critic for intergovernmental relations. “Most private power projects in B.C., including those run by the B.C. Liberal government’s flagship donor Plutonic Power, do not meet California’s standards for green energy.”

Under California’s standards hydro power is not considered green if a project produces more than 30 MW of power or changes the natural flow of a stream or river.

According to Gentner, last summer while at a Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) conference in Idaho, American senators and Congress representatives were shaking their heads in disbelief when the B.C. delegation presented its version of private hydro as a means of alternative energy.

“The B.C. Liberal government has pushed their private power plan down our throats at great cost to taxpayers, ratepayers, and the environment by spinning the line that we needed the power here at home,” said Gentner. “Now Premier Campbell has exposed the lie of energy self-sufficiency with his private power pitch to legislators in California.”

Gentner noted that during his speech the B.C. Liberal premier told California legislators that he only had two words for them: “Thank you.”

“I wonder what his two words to British Columbians would be,” asked Genter.

Carole James and the New Democrats are fighting for an environmental plan that respects communities, creates green jobs, offers families positive choices and commits to concrete action to protect species at risk.

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