Broad Support for BC’s Natural Gas Industry

Vancouver BC, March 2, 2022 — A new BC poll conducted on behalf of Resource Works shows broad public support for BC’s natural gas industry, especially as it relates to its contribution to jobs and the economy.

Overall Views of BC’s Natural Gas Industry

British Columbians tend to support middle ground positions where the natural gas industry grows along with taking action on greenhouse emissions and/or regular government reviews. Asked to choose between four different points of view about the industry, most British Columbians choose either that …

British Columbia’s natural gas industry should be allowed to continue to grow provided action is being taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (35%)

or that …

We should approach BC’s natural gas industry with caution, and it should be reviewed by government each year to evaluate progress on emissions reductions (30%).

Far fewer British Columbians hold a more extreme view that industry should simply be allowed to grow or that no new production should be allowed. More specifically:

• 12% say that BC’s natural gas industry should be allowed to continue to grow
• 7% say that no new natural gas production should be developed at all.

Performance of BC’s Natural Gas Industry

Most British Columbians think the provincial natural gas industry is doing a good job at providing economic benefits, but views are less positive or more uncertain about industry environmental and climate change actions.

More specifically, about two-thirds of British Columbians believe the natural gas industry is doing a good job (very good or good) when it comes to:

• contributing to Canada's overall economy (67% good job vs. 16% poor job)
• creating jobs for British Columbians (67% good job vs. 16% poor job).

A majority of residents believe the natural gas industry is doing a good job when it comes to providing economic benefits to the government that can help fund education, health, and social programs (56% good job vs. 21% poor job).

Ratings are slightly lower for environmental/climate performance, with about half of residents saying the natural gas industry is doing a good job when it comes to:

• working to lessen the overall environmental impact of natural gas development (49% good job vs. 27% poor job)
• taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas development (49% good job vs. 26% poor job).

Level of Concern About Consequences of Climate/Energy Policies

Survey respondents were asked about their level of concern about a number of possible consequences of climate and energy policies. The question was asked in the context of “some countries in Europe like the UK have recently experienced energy shortages, increased prices and the need to purchase energy from countries such as Russia.”

The number one concern of British Columbians is significant increases in your home heating bill (77% say they are very or somewhat concerned).

A majority of British Columbians are also very concerned or somewhat concerned about each of the following:

• Canadians paying significantly more for public transportation (67%)
• Power outages during peak winter months (65%)
• Importing more oil or natural gas from countries that don't have high environmental or social standards (64%)
• Gas shortages causing violent public outcry (63%)
• Gas stations running out of gas (60%)
• Rolling blackouts to help manage peak energy demand (57%)
• Shortages at gas stations (57%)

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Resource Works. The poll of 800 adult (18+) British Columbians was conducted online via the Ipsos I-Say Panel from February 8 to 15, 2022. These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll (n=800) is accurate to within +/-3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all BC adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Kyle Braid
Senior Vice President, Public Affairs
Office: (778) 373-5130
Cell: (604) 788-2417
[email protected]

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