Few British Columbians are against tackling climate change.

But making students lab rats in an experiment to make the province a leader in the exchange of carbon credits is not the way to do it.

Starting next year, school districts will be expected to calculate and pay for carbon emissions when there’s no money in the pot to pay for teachers.

It’s an added financial burden for districts already caught in a cash crunch.

The Surrey School District is already facing a $9.5-million shortfall due to a reduction in revenues and increased costs.

The carbon emission plan imposed by the province will add nearly $2 million in expenses annually to Surrey’s bottom line – the equivalent of the annual salaries for 28 full-time teachers.

First, districts have to buy and use an expensive, time-consuming calculator – from the province, which developed it – to figure out how many tonnes of carbon emissions they create in heating and lighting schools, then they’ll pay carbon offsets to industry through a carbon exchange called the Pacific Carbon Trust. This Crown corporation will then use the funds to reward industries that cut back on their carbon emissions.

But should schools be subsidizing industry? And is this the right time to do it?

True, schools that cut energy and electricity consumption will save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

But exactly how can they afford to do that without dedicated funds? There was the annual facilities grant but that was cut and what reserves are left are being used for basic maintenance.

You would think B.C. Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid would be sympathetic. But, no, she’s sticking to her guns on the 2010 deadline and says no extra money is available for the program.

What’s more, MacDiarmid says, school districts have known about the deadline for two years and should have done a better job to ensure carbon tax rebates they received were plowed back into energy-saving projects.

MacDiarmid should know that those rebate amounts weren’t enough to turn aging and energy-guzzling schools into svelte sippers.

And as Surrey Board of Education Chairperson Laurae McNally notes, under-funded expenses ultimately come out of classrooms.

Meanwhile, the province cancelled its own popular LiveSmart energy-saving rebates, claiming poverty, yet holds school districts to a higher standard.

Surely it’s time for a public review of the carbon exchange program to see if its stated goals and deadline are worth the havoc they will create in our children’s schools.

Diane Strandberg is assistant-editor at the Tri-City News.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com