The British Columbia Progress Board repeatedly points out that the province is at the top of the class in Canada when it comes to environmental performance, but dead last (actually ninth place) as far as alleviating poverty in our midst.

Given this stark reality, why is Finance Minister Carole Taylor expected to deliver a "Green" budget next spring?

The answer: Premier Gordon Campbell's latest policy love affair (global warming) and crass politics.

In setting priorities, governments ideally should ask a few basic questions:

• Is there a problem?
• If so, what's the size and scope of the problem?
• What are the potential solutions?
• What policies will get the best result at the least cost?

Scarcity of resources is the single biggest reason why these questions have to be asked and answered to the satisfaction of policy-makers. In other words, politicians cannot do everything and do it well because there is only so much money to go around. So the premier has to choose among competing demands. After all, by definition, priority-setting demands that you prioritize.

If we apply these simple guidelines, it's hard to make a case for a "Green" budget….

At this point in the exercise, some bureaucrat or minister should have had the guts to inform Campbell he is wrong to make the environment and global warming a priority because we are doing better than the rest of the country on this file.

Then they should have insisted that he examine the issue of poverty and child poverty in particular. Again, the progress board's data is instructive.

It shows that B.C. ranks ninth for social indicators. It compares our social condition to other provinces based on five categories: Low-income cut-off, personal property crime, income assistance levels, low birth weight, and long-term unemployment.

Currently, 17.3 per cent of B.C.'s population is earning low incomes when compared with the Canadian average of 15.2 per cent. While there are problems with this measure (a topic for another day), it is still relevant because it compares apples to apples.

Not surprisingly, New Democratic Party leader Carole James jumped all over this report. "One in four children lives in poverty, homelessness is exploding and now the premier's own progress board says that for the third year in a row B.C. ranks second to last in the social condition of our population," she said.

James has a point. Out of 1.1 million households in B.C., 177,935 are lone-parent families. Many of these single parents are the ones who have low incomes and are struggling to find employment, put nutritious food on the table, find affordable daycare and spend some time reading to their kids so they'll have a chance of getting a good education and increase their job prospects down the road.

And given that we have reams of evidence -- and I mean reams -- that suggest the kind of mental stimulation and nourishment we can give kids in the early years matters in their cognitive development and success as adults, this is a file that needs attention.

Research also demonstrates that allocating enough resources and sticking to the project for several years is necessary to solve big problems like child poverty. In other words, politicians cannot fall in and out of love with alleviating child poverty or battling crime. They have to be in it for the long haul.

Thus a more pressing budget theme for B.C. is "Mother and Child."

So why the focus on the environment and global warming? One word: Politics.

Those who vote Liberal -- many of whom feel guilty about driving their SUVs, living in large homes and taking holidays that require air travel -- want the government to do something to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Naturally, Campbell wants to oblige his constituents.

This political calculation makes sense because the Liberals will probably not get many votes from the so-called progressive part of the electorate even if they deliver a sustained program of action to help those families with children who are struggling to make ends meet.

So poor parents (mostly mothers) and children are sacrificed at the altar of the sexy and vote-grabbing topic of global warming.