Canada Sucks When It Comes to Climate Change
- Posted by: Siobhan O'Connor
- on July 2, 2009 at 4:12 pm
If you were doing worse on climate action than Russia and the United States after eight years of Bush’s environmental policies, you’d know you had a problem. So it looks like Canada has a bit of a problem, because in this new report, which ranks the G8 countries based on climate initiatives, Canada came last. Last. (Germany, of course, came first.)
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada promised it would level its emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. They’re apparently not doing so hot. Two years ago, CO2 emissions were more than 25 percent higher than they were in 1990, which gives them just a few years to make a serious dent in current rates.
“Nowhere else on Earth do fewer people steward more resources, yet Canada now stands dead last amongst the G8 Nations in protecting our shared home from the threat of dangerous climate change,” said Keith Stewart, Director of WWF-Canada’s Climate Change Campaign. “Canada’s future lies in creating green jobs on a living planet, not in becoming the energy sweatshop for the world.”
Oof. I’ll be honest and say that even though I grew up in Canada, I don’t closely follow its environmental policy, though everyone knows there’s been leadership issues there for some time. Still, this is shocking, not only because of Canada’s reputation for progressive policies, but also because (and I’m speaking anecdotally here), most of the Canadians I know live and breathe environmentally and socially responsible behavior.
Here’s hoping this is the kick in the pants in needs to get its act in order leading up to Copenhagen.
DISCUSSION: 6 Comments
The current PM, Stephen Harper, and his Conservative party are more interested in paying big subsidies to oil companies than evironmental action. Our current government is the last refuge of pro-Bush neocons. Kind of sad really.
Maybe it’s because palm trees on Baffin Island, and a longer growing season in Saskatchewan, might not be such a bad thing.
Actually Sweden (which is not part of the G8 but was taken into the report because of its present presidency of the European Union) was first. Several environmental organizations mean, though, that this might not be the case for many more years, and they make sure our prime minister does not forget his promise to put the environment on the top of the agenda during the presidency.
This is most definitely an embarrassment for many Canadians, who by and large are quite eco-concious as individuals. The problem is federal politics. The current governing Conservative Party under Prime Minister Stephen Harper is more focused on tax cuts than on any CO2 regulation. Their base of support is in Western Canada, home to the oil sands developments which are terrible for the climate but generate a lot of wealth in the short term. In last fall’s federal election the official opposition Liberal Party under Stéphane Dion ran on a platform of introducing a carbon tax to reduce Canada’s CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, this election coincided with the start of the global economic collapse, and the Conservatives successfully convinced enough Canadians that any additional tax would destroy our economy even further. The Conservatives were re-elected as a minority government and the environment has been on the backburner ever since, overshadowed by economic concerns.There may be some hope, though: since that election the Liberals have appointed a newer more popular leader in Michael Ignatieff, and a new election could be triggered in the fall with a non-confidence vote. If the Liberals (who originally ratified Kyoto) return to power there may be more hope for change on the environmental front. In the meantime, the international community should continue to point out Canada’s disappointing inaction on this issue. Many Canadians do care deeply about both the environment and our international image, so this criticism may help to spur change.
It is a sweeping statement to claim that Canada sucks in terms of combating climate change when there are efforts underway here and there that demonstrate their willingness and effort toward making an positive change. I saw an article just yesterday via http://www.greenwala.com (the online green social network) that mentions the first ever cellulosic fuel station in Ottawa. Here’s the link if anyone is curious — http://www.greenwala.com/profiles/2449-Linda-Lucille/blog/1231-One-Man-s-Waste-Is-Another-Man-s-Cellulosic-Fuel What this demonstrates is that even though it may be a relatively small drop in the bucket, it’s a drop nonetheless that can lead to a much greater solution.
I’m sitting square in the middle of Canada, surrounded by some of the most environmentally conscious citizens, each doing their part to decrease their footprint and instill lasting, conscious virtues in their children.On the other hand, we’re surrounded by resources and massive multinational corporations that will do anything to get at those resources. Blow it up, dig it up, chop it down, pump it up… whatever it takes to get at the mighty dollar being shelled out from hungry, thirsty customers around the world. The sheer scale of the resources and land mass almost makes it easy to somehow turn a blind eye to the damage. It’s sickening.And our current Conservative government is more interested in that money than they are of the consequences of getting it. The fundamentals the Canadian government are contrary to global thinking. They will take money earmarked for wind energy production and move it to oilsands.So, exactly how did that government come to stay in power? Terrible timing. The global belly flop of the economy shoved the environment out of the limelight.