Greenhouse Gas fail

January 31, 2010 should go down in history as the turning point of the Federal Government, the day the Conservatives finally went too far in pushing Canadians away from the values they share. That was the day the Conservatives, led by Environment Minister Jim Prentice, announced Canada’s greenhouse gas ‘reduction’ targets to the United Nations and to the rest of the world. The numbers are depressing for their lack of courage and their inability to impact the global climate crisis. For those not in the know, the Conservatives have decided that a mere seventeen percent reduction from 2005 levels is all that this government is willing to do. Unfortunately, this is not nearly as laudable a goal as they would have you believe. Most of the rest of the world has decided to use 1990 as a benchmark, and if we were to use the same then we would actually be committing to a three percent increase of 1990 levels as the benchmark for our so-called greenhouse gas ‘reductions’.
It is a shame that our apparent reductions will still be a net increase from our 1990 levels and that there was seemingly no input from the scientific community regarding the Conservative Party’s proposed commitments, particularly in light of how much public support there is for Canada to pull its weight in the global struggle. A 2009 poll from Angus Reid shows that a firm majority of voters support climate change legislation, including a legally binding international accord. Yet another large majority of voters, this time from just the province of British Columbia, a battleground province in federal elections, say that protecting the environment should take precedence, even over economic growth. The polling landscape clearly shows that Canadians and especially British Columbians care about the environment. Stephen Harper and his Conservatives should remember that when they present their lackluster emission targets. Perhaps if scientists had been allowed to contribute to the discussion instead of big oil, there would have been harder targets in place, targets that would have actually made a difference in reducing human impact on the environment.
Harder targets are needed, and it has become apparent that the ruling party does not consider the environment an issue worth their time. These substandard emission caps will not change Canadians’ impact on climate change, but there is another way to make a significant impact on the world stage. Bill C-311 is a private member’s bill that will once again be sent through Parliament once it is back in session. This bill, which has not been drafted by the Conservatives and has never once received support from the Conservative caucus, includes harder caps that are backed by real scientific consensus. Please call your local Member of Parliament and urge them to support Bill C-311 once it returns to Parliament, it is our chance to tell Harper and his Conservatives that his emission caps are not good enough for the world and certainly not good enough for Canadians.