Port Moody council has abandoned plans to force the city's gas stations to affix climate change warning labels on their pump handles.
Changes to the business licensing bylaw were up for first three readings at Tuesday's council meeting but were defeated after Coun. Barbara Junker voted against it, joining Mayor Mike Clay and councillors Meghan Lahti and Diana Dilworth, who had voted against it at a committee of the whole meeting in March.
Junker said she was concerned about the potential for legal action against PoMo and was hoping the bylaw had already been tested in the city of North Vancouver, which has yet to pass a similar bylaw.
Staff had been working on the proposal since a presentation by the non-profit group Our Horizon last summer and voted to pursue the program despite receiving a legal opinion that requiring gas stations to use the labels would not likely withstand a court challenge.
Those on council who favoured the proposal had said it was a good way to get people talking about climate change and to help lower greenhouse gas emissions. Others said there were better ways of tackling climate change from areas within the city's jurisdiction, such as lobbying for better transit and other modes of transportation, and not simply making motorists feel guilty for gassing up their vehicles.
PoMo's plan was to distribute city-designed labels to the four PoMo gas stations, which were to contain "positive messaging… ensuring a connection between burning fossil fuels and climate change." The labels were to come with an invoice ranging from $126.20 to $168.60, depending on the number of gas pumps.
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