The Sierra Club says B.C. is vastly underreporting its greenhouse gas emissions by not counting pollution from forest and fossil fuel exports. However, the province's environment minister says it doesn't need to report emissions it can't control and that the club is playing politics with the issue.
In a report released Thursday, the Sierra Club says the province's greenhouse gas emissions would quadruple when exported products are added in.
The organization says the B.C. government has reported that the province's 2010 emissions dropped by 4.5 per cent to 62 million tonnes, but the province's annual emissions are actually more than 250 million tonnes when pollution from forests and fossil fuel exports are included.
But Environment Minister Terry Lake rejected the findings of the report, saying the Sierra Club knows international agreements don't require the province to report emissions that are beyond its control, including those associated with exported products.
