After a very trying year, the promise of a return to normal is coinciding with the approach of Spring. The Board, Chapters, and key stakeholders held a number of strategic planning workshops in December, January, February, and March, and along with the coming of Spring, the BCSEA has a notional direction on where we are headed.
While it might not appear to be earth-shaking, we have renewed our focus on our Cool It! program, and the policy work we do. For Cool It!, we are looking at doubling the number of workshops we deliver, for students in Grades 4 to 12, and in both French and English, over the next 5 years. To do so will require targeted increases in our resources to accommodate such growth, from additional Environmental Educators to looking at dedicated website improvements.

Regarding policy development, this is where we have the chance to make contributions towards our vision of a 100% sustainably powered British Columbia.  To help inform our policy positions on a number of key topics in sustainable energy, we are looking for input from our members in crafting positions on things like hydrogen and its role in a sustainably powered economy; renewable natural gas; carbon capture, and sequestration; and microgrids for remote communities.  This is in addition to the great work that Bill Andrews, Tom Hackney, and Matt Jackson are doing at the BC Utilities Commission.

While we work out the specifics, I can say that we are approaching sustainable energy from the grassroots (educating students and the general public), while advocating at the policy level to make it easier to adopt sustainable energy solutions – that is, we are both action takers and thought leaders in the field of sustainable energy.  The BCSEA has a unique role to play in both these areas and is where I want to engage our individual and business members in supporting our vision.  

If there was any doubt about the value of our work, I recently participated in a study being done by the UBC Master’s of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and they specifically mentioned how informative they found bcsea.org, and the Policy Corner in particular.

To be part of this great work, I encourage you to become a member of the BCSEA today.  As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to send us a note to info@bcsea.org. 

Message from the board

Monday, March 22, 2021