Larry Whaley from the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub addresses the city’s Governance and Priorities committee on Wednesday before it approved a staff recommendation to bring in a zero-carbon step code for new buildings starting in July 2024. The proposal will go to city council on Aug. 28. Photo: Screenshot of City of Nanaimo livestream.

On Wednesday, the City of Nanaimo’s Governance and Priorities Committee unanimously voted to refer a staff recommendation to accelerate zero-carbon building code requirements to the next city council meeting.

Local environmental advocate Nina Rastogi addressed the committee, her voice breaking, urging council members to support the move to a zero carbon standard.

“In India, where my father is from, more and more days are reaching temperatures in which humans can no longer survive, even in the shade, outdoors, at rest. It is the most populated country in the world. Many of us in Nanaimo have families there and your actions will be known.”

Coun. Paul Manly said that accelerating the Zero Carbon Step Code by seven years to July 2024 was an urgent priority.

“I heard a climate scientist last week say that this is the warmest summer of our lives, and the coolest summer of the rest of our lives,” he said. “We're in serious trouble. We should have been on this decades ago.”

Carmen LeBlanc from FortisBC said the company supports lowering emissions but would like the city to stick to the original timeline arguing there are other low-carbon alternatives that can be delivered through a gas system.

“Getting us to net zero is going to take all the energy tools in the energy toolbox, probably even energies that we don't have readily access to or even infrastructure for today,” Leblanc said. ”Renewable natural gas made from wastewater treatment, landfill gas capture, organics, agriculture is one piece of the low-carbon gas picture.”

Activists from Nanaimo Climate Action Hub had mobilized people to attend the committee meeting, with a number of people wearing t-shirts with “just stop oil” printed on them.

“Our world is on fire. Our country is on fire. Our province is on fire and our island is on fire,” said Nanaimo Climate Action Hub organizer Larry Whaley. “When you're faced with a fire, you don't add fuel.”

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog supported the motion at committee but said it will pass costs on to consumers.

“You're going to be shifting it onto another consumer and another purchaser down the road,” said Krog. “That's really what we're doing.”

Coun. Hilary Eastmure disagreed.

“The culprit here is inaction and we have the opportunity to act now and we know better than to drag our feet on this,” she said. “As far as shifting the cost onto another consumer or purchaser down the road, the alternative is shifting an unlivable planet onto future generations.”

Coun. Ben Geselbracht said installing gas systems in new homes is a mistake.

if you put a natural gas system in your home now, you could be looking at a costly retrofit down the road, it's just not worth it,” he said.

While the committee recommended that the Zero Carbon Step code be accelerated, the BC Energy Step Code, which regulates energy efficiency, will continue to follow provincial timelines with Step 4 coming into effect in 2027 and Step 5 in 2030.

Coun. Geselbracht said the important thing is moving away from natural gas.

“You can have a very insulated home and still be running natural gas and your emissions are going to be high,” he said. “What really is going to get us there is the fuel switching.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.