Harper, Kyoto and Kim
October 26, 2006
Fast Forward Weekly
First he was raked over the coals for abandoning Kyoto. Now Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being excoriated for simply finding a more lenient due date for cutting greenhouse gas emissions — 2050.
Regulations that do take effect, as early as 2007, limit emissions from motorcycles, snowmobiles, and interestingly, forklifts.
But it’s worth asking whether Canadians really want to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. According to a recent poll by The Strategic Counsel, 55 per cent of us support the idea of paying more for energy consumption, but when respondents were asked about specific measures, such as paying higher gas prices or a higher income tax, the number willing to pay dropped to a paltry 20 per cent.
"Oh, you mean, actually paying more of my money…"
Most of us care about the environment, but are still not willing to do much about it. Most that is, outside of Quebec. The David Suzuki Foundation’s recent report All Over the Map, ranked the provinces’ environmental policies, and the impact they are likely to have on carbon emissions and climate change. The Foundation is not one to give undue praise. Nonetheless, its director of Climate Change, Morag Carter said, "of all the provincial plans, the Quebec plan is the best."
Next to Prince Edward Island, Quebec’s emissions growth since 1990 is the lowest in the country. It is steering people away from cars by investing in public and bicycle transportation. What’s more, it is the first province to plan a program of carbon trading. Under the system, the Quebec government will set carbon emissions caps, then issue credits to companies, granting them the right to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide over a given period.
They’ll be able to trade these credits in a free market, but firms whose emissions exceed their allotted amount will be penalized.
The idea is for a shortage of credits to ensue, driving up their price, and making it more profitable for firms to engage in carbon reduction, thus increasing the incentive for cleaner industry. The clean and green would be rewarded, and the polluters punished.
Premier Jean Charest hopes to reduce Quebec’s carbon output to six per cent below 1990 levels. That’s in line with the Kyoto target (which Harper said would be beyond Canada’s reach).
Last week the governors of New York and California agreed to set up their own carbon credit program. And in 2005 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order committing the state to the following targets for reducing global warming emissions:
· By 2010, emissions will be reduced by 11 per cent to 2000 levels.
· By 2020, emissions will be reduced by 25 percent to 1990 levels.
· By 2050, emissions will be reduced to 80 percent below 1990 levels.
California's global warming law imposes America’s first mandatory, statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a move that has been criticized by manufacturers and cement makers, two of the largest greenhouse gas emitters.
In contrast to California’s multiple short- and medium-term targets, Harper’s Clean Air Act aims to reduce carbon output by between 45 and 65 per cent of 2003 levels by the year 2050. Canada’s heavy industry would not face caps on carbon emissions until 2020. So neither this government, nor the next, nor the one after that, would be accountable for our environmental record.
In the interim, the provinces are left on their own to do regionally, what Ottawa has sidestepped federally.
Returning to our ranking of the provinces, guess who is rock bottom? No prizes for guessing Alberta. Granted, the oil and gas industry is a major driver of Canada’s economic growth. Hence it has emissions intensity targets, instead of caps. Emissions cannot rise at a rate faster than economic growth, so as long as GDP continues to increase, emissions are allowed to continue to increase.
Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 33.3 per cent between 1990 and 2003, making it the largest emitting province.
Not surprisingly, Alberta’s Environment Minister Guy Boutilier — MLA for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo — has heartily endorsed Harper’s Clean Air Act, which is a bit like Kim Jung Il presenting George W. Bush with a human rights award.