According to the 2007 Cascadia Scorecard, BC leads the Pacific Northwest states in many key trends, including health, energy use, and sprawl, and has made important policy strides just in the past year, especially on climate solutions. But the province still lags behind world leaders in some areas, and has a poor track record in economic security. BC can accelerate its progress through a combination of smart solutions outlined below.

Find out more about the Cascadia Scorecard 2007 here.

Health

British Columbia leads the Northwest

• With an average lifespan of 81.1 years, British Columbians outlive residents of the Northwest states by two years, on average. If the province were an independent nation, it would have the second longest lifespan in the world, trailing only Japan.
• BC’s policies to curb sprawl—such as channeling new growth into already-urban areas—likely improve residents’ health by reducing car accidents, reducing vehicle emissions, and encouraging walking.
  
  

Economy

Struggling to make ends meet

• Overall economic security for lower- and middle-income residents in British Columbia remains lower than it was in 1990.
• In 2005, the most recent year that complete data were available, British Columbia’s rates of poverty (17.6 percent) and child poverty (20.9 percent) were higher than in the early 1990s, even while Canada’s poverty level has declined.
• Despite recent gains, the median income for British Columbians ($40,400) is slightly below 1990’s level and far below the highs of the 1980s, after adjusting for inflation.
• An initial solution is to improve the province’s measures of economic security; key data on trends affecting ordinary and low-income British Columbians are years out of date, with 2005 figures released only this May.
  
  

Sprawl

Progress for healthy communities in BC

• British Columbia is the region’s leader at curbing sprawl. Roughly 62 percent of greater Vancouver residents, and 34 percent of Victoria residents, live in compact communities that foster walking and biking, compared to roughly 25 percent in Seattle and Portland.
• BC’s leadership in promoting walkable communities—through policies such as the Agricultural Land Reserve—has paid off in a variety of ways. Compared to residents of the Northwest states, British Columbians drive less, use less energy per person, and are less vulnerable to leading health risks such as obesity and car accidents.
  
  

Energy

Energy use still high, but surprising good news about gasoline use

• British Columbia residents consume the equivalent of 10.9 gallons of gasoline per person in highway fuels and electricity for homes and businesses every week. But BC residents do use less energy per person than residents of the US Northwest (by about one-third), although more than residents of many European nations.
• BC’s per-person gasoline use has declined by about a tenth since 1998 and is now at its lowest level since the early 1990s.
• However, per capita consumption of diesel continued its decades-long rise last year, while electricity use ticked upwards.
• Key steps to make British Columbia’s energy system more secure and efficient include climate initiatives aimed at jumpstarting energy efficiency, such as Premier Gordon Campbell’s ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to pre-Kyoto levels by 2020, among other goals. British Columbians should also pay close attention to big transportation proposals that will determine the region’s energy efficiency and climate emissions for decades to come.
  
  

Population

Small family size, lowest teen birthrate in the Northwest

• British Columbia’s family size, 1.4 children on average, is the lowest level in the region. Family size (also called the total fertility rate) is a sensitive indicator of educational and economic opportunities for women.
• BC’s teen birthrate fell again in 2006, to 10.1 births per thousand women under 20, by far the lowest rate in the Northwest. The province’s universalized access to emergency contraception at pharmacies may have helped bring down rates of teen births and unintended pregnancies.
  
  

Wildlife

Orcas struggle; caribou hold their ground

• The “southern resident” orcas, whose range includes the Georgia Basin, suffered a setback in 2006. Even as new orca calves were welcomed into the pods, four older whales apparently died. By the end of the year, only 86 orcas remained in the southern resident population, roughly one-third of their historical abundance.
• The Selkirk caribou herd, whose range includes parts of southeast British Columbia, still number only about 12 percent of their historical abundance. The caribou need strict protection and restoration of old-growth forests in the Selkirks.

Contact Elisa Murray, 206-447-1880, ext. 109, elisa@sightline.org. An online press room with the report, sources, maps, and press materials is here.

.