John Rustad has been, to phrase it gently, a long-time climate change skeptic. The B.C. Conservative leader, who hopes to become the next premier of B.C., has long questioned human-caused climate change and consistently downplays the problems associated with global heating. But this week, when B.C.’s political landscape shifted, he began to backpedal, realizing his past statements might not be a selling feature for many British Columbians.
That shift, for those who were on vacation last week, occurred when Rustad’s rival on the right folded the BC United Party, leaving only two major parties competing in the October election. Most British Columbians will now choose between the Conservatives on the right and Premier David Eby’s left-leaning NDP. The Greens will capture votes here and there, but not enough to make much difference. Most ridings will be a two-way race.
With a realistic shot of winning in sight, Rustad immediately moved to walk back his long history of questioning the science underpinning climate change. In interviews this week, Rustad insisted he believes climate change is real, but quickly adds it’s not a crisis and wants to tackle crime, drugs and affordability problems first.
But ask yourself this: does this acknowledgement mean anything? How can anyone believe in climate change and not think it’s a problem large enough to bother tackling? They’d have to be blind to the news. They’d have to deny that 2023, Canada’s worst forest fire year ever, is linked to increased world temperatures. They’d have to brush off Phoenix’s 100-day run of days over 37.7C (100F) as a fluke. They’d have to come up with some other explanation for the growing number of megafires devastating California. Not to mention floods in China, heatwaves in Europe, droughts in Africa and somehow even the Arctic. I could go on, but frankly, it gets too depressing. What’s equally depressing is that this reality doesn’t seem to have quite sunk in with Rustad.
As recently as June 20th, he was adamant that scientists are still debating the degree of impact human activity has on climate change. We’re not sure who he talked to because there is every indication that’s not true. A 2021 study out of Cornell University found 99.9 per cent of more than 88,000 peer-reviewed papers conclude climate change is mainly caused by humans. And after 2023, the earth’s hottest year on record, that number might now be sitting at 100 per cent.
Rustad’s skeptical views about the role of humans in causing climate change would remain a personal issue if he was never in charge of climate policy. But he could be, if the BC Conservatives win, and polls done before the demise of BC United were showing an extremely close race.
There is every indication that if elected premier, Rustad will ignore mountains of evidence showing taxing pollution is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving up the temperatures on our planet. He wants none of it. The BC Conservatives are promising to take a sledge hammer to climate policy that they claim costs too much and stifles economic prosperity. Rustad is promising to immediately end B.C.’s gas tax (which would just bring the federal carbon tax into effect), ease greenhouse gas emissions tests that stand in the way of LNG development, and make it easier to log forests. Each of these moves, which encourage the burning and production of more fossil fuels and remove trees, our natural climate change warriors which absorb carbon dioxide and mitigate climate change, is a step in the wrong direction.
Actions speak louder than words. So, even if you believe Rustad when he says climate change is real and concedes humans may contribute to the problem, it is clear he’s not prepared to do much, if anything, about it. And given his history, you have to wonder if he really has changed his mind at all or is simply pandering to a voting public that is concerned about climate change and wants to elect leaders who think the same way.
—Adrienne Tanner
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👀The man vying to become the next premier of B.C. has embraced some bizarre conspiracies about the climate crisis. John Rustad, leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., last year appeared on the social media platform Rumble with Christian extremist politician Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and suggested the "climate narrative" is part of a conspiracy that "somehow we need to reduce the world population," echoing a conspiracy theory that climate policies are actually part of a plot by a shadowy group of elites to control people.
And just last year, he liked a post on X/Twitter saying there is "no sign of the global warming crisis" and that the fight against climate change is a "UN campaign that is stage-managed on behalf of rich globalists." And the list goes on. As the election draws close, this deep dive into Rustad’s historical skepticism about climate change is a must read.
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson reports
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