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OTTAWA, Canada — Canada's House of Commons passed a bill last week that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The Climate Change Accountability Act, or Bill C-311, would be Canada's sole climate change legislation, mandating the government to set regulations to meet the stringent targets.
The bill, introduced for a second time by the New Democratic Party of Canada, would also punish polluters who break the rules, publicize five-year target plans, and establish independent reviews to ensure government measures are adequate.
"It's been a lot of work with a lot of ups and downs," Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay–Superior North), the politician who introduced the bill in the House, said in a statement. "But finally Canada will be on its way to having clear regulations and frameworks for fighting climate change. We can at least hold our heads up high in the international community." The new law sets a far more aggressive goal than the country's 2020 target submitted under the Copenhagen Accord. That goal seeks a 17 percent reduction in emissions based on 2005 levels and is aligned with the U.S. commitment.
In February, Canada's Environment Minister Jim Prentice signaled the country would harmonize its climate change strategy with other nations to avoid putting its interests at a competitive disadvantage, including its massive oil sands operations representing what some say is the country's fastest-growing emissions source.
"It is absolutely counter-productive and utterly pointless for Canada and Canadian businesses to strike out on their own, to set and to pursue targets that will ultimately create barriers to trade and put us at a competitive disadvantage," Minister Prentice said in a statement in February when listing its Copenhagen Accord target.
The Climate Change Accountability Act now heads to the Senate.
Image CC licensed by Flickr user bulliver.
The Conservative governmemt
The Conservative government of Canada is dead set against this bill ever making it through the Upper House, which they control. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Environment MInister Jim Prentice have promised to cut emissions by 17 percent based on a 2005 baseline, and that sounds good on paper, but it hides the real truth. In a nutshell, they're promising to limit the growth in Canada's emissions to 3 percent over the next decade using the UN's 1990 baseline — in effect, they are the only G8 nation promising to go in the wrong direction.
And most environmentalists are certain they have no chance of meeting even that anemic goal. We have no plan whatsoever.
It's shameful.