Canada's New Green Plan Leaks Out Early
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.25.07
The Canadian Government is releasing its new environmental policy tomorrow. Perhaps part of it will be to ban fax machines, because they dialed it wrong yesterday and sent a copy of it to the oppposition. The plan includes halting growth of greenhouse gas emissions within five years, cutting them by 20% by 2020, and banning inefficient light bulbs.
The Minister will evidently say "we will not spin the wheel so hard as to put the Canadian economy in the ditch to deliver environmental plan [sic] asked for in some quarters....we will turn the corner with a balanced plan that recognizes the urgent need to act on the environment while also respecting our responsibility to keep Canadian families working." i.e., so much for Kyoto.
The government sent a second fax that said "You are in possession of confidential or government information that was faxed to you in error...sharing or distribution of this material is strictly prohibited" ... we await the arrival of the Mounties. ::the Star
UPDATE: Here is the speech.
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Stunning, absolutely stunning.
And while Mr. Baird was dodging raindrops, the Ottawa city council failed to pass a resolution to ban car idling beyond 3 minutes. This on the heels of their inability to ban the personal use of pesticides.
It certainly forces one to regroup with the knowledge of just how far behind the curvet our bureacracy is in this country.
Must keep pushing this rock up the hill.
An interesting read on the beliefs of Canada's educated, upper-class...
http://www.angusreidstrategies.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news&newsid=36&page=1
"turn the corner with a balanced plan that recognizes the urgent need to act on the environment while also respecting our responsibility to keep Canadian families working."
I hate to burst the bubble of the Kyoto fans but this is the best you'll probably get from developed nations (Many that signed on to Kyoto are realizing it's a different matter when they had to walk the walk after talking the talk, I've seen reports of them having trouble meeting their goals), does it suck, yes, will emissions drop at the Kyoto rate, no but they will drop. To ask countries make drastic changes that will mess with their economy while other less developed nations get a pass isn't going to fly. China has runaway emissions with it's massive growth and will have a far more damaging effect that others taking a more moderate pace on greenhouse gas reduction.
Re: Education level and environmental beliefs:
I think the more educated you are, the more you realize how the economy works and how hard it is to change human behaviour. So, you just give up and accept that there's little you can do.
And we became educated for a reason: to make enough money (working in an unsustainable industry, likely) so we'd never have to take the bus with the scuzzoids ever again.
Yanks have to remember that Canada is a cold barren place and public transit here is an awful experience as a result. And global warming will only improve conditions in Canada, so why should we care really?
"Re: Education level and environmental beliefs:
I think the more educated you are, the more you realize how the economy works and how hard it is to change human behaviour. So, you just give up and accept that there's little you can do.
And we became educated for a reason: to make enough money (working in an unsustainable industry, likely) so we'd never have to take the bus with the scuzzoids ever again.
Yanks have to remember that Canada is a cold barren place and public transit here is an awful experience as a result. And global warming will only improve conditions in Canada, so why should we care really?"
spoken like a true blue selfish, me first, greedy business man type. The thing most lacking from said person who doesn't care is empathy. Empathy for that "scuzzoid" on the bus, empathy for the other living creatures around him.
its more attitude, a conservative generally i find is self interested, wants things there way, and could care less about others who are dissadvantaged. Whatever will help them along the way is what they are interested in. The conservative party is based around this framework. Anything environment will make them spend money on programs, and spend money at the companies they own (from afar) so it makes sense they would not want to support such things.