Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Conservatives Commit To Kyoto

I guess this new stance is a good sign:
Despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's public misgivings about the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the federal environment minister says Canada will not opt out of the accord.

Rona Ambrose said Tuesday the Conservative government will work within the protocol, but she said there is a need for a separate, made-in-Canada solution to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and pollution...

We are going to be working within Kyoto," Ambrose said, clarifying lingering uncertainties about the federal government's plans.

Ambrose still holds the view that we need a "made in Canada" approach to emissions. I don't necessarily disagree with that sentiment, the Kyoto Accord is far from perfect. However, I think we should remain sceptical of what the Conservative plan really entails. Will Ambrose distance herself from the oil and gas interests she has previously defended? If we are serious about emissions, any arrangements that don't have specific legislation is a toothless exercise. Simply arguing that the private sector will be the one's to come up with solutions, defies the logic of a capitalistic enterprise, where profit trumps all.

That being said, the fact that Ambrose, and by extension Harper, have finally recognized the Kyoto Accord serves as a positive. I am curious to see how practical the much anticipated Tory "Clean Air Act" turns out to be. That initiative will show if the Conservatives have really evolved on the environment, or prefer useless propaganda akin to the Bush "Health Forests" nonsense.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve, it's likely just tactical. Harper knows there's strong public support for Kyoto, and he knows he will face another election in about a year or so. Why antagonize the public (and other nations) by pulling out of Kyoto before then? Instead, he'll just ignore it; no serious measures to reduce CO2, maybe some kind of light Clean Air Act -- that's the ticket.

Steve V said...

jay

You're probably right.