Thursday, Oct 19, 2006
Tory Clean Air Act would take half-century to cut greenhouse emissions in half
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose discusses her Environment plan at a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson) OTTAWA (CP) – The Conservatives released the centrepiece of their "made-in-Canada" environment agenda Thursday – a Clean Air Act that would take almost a half-century to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half.
The Tories boasted that they’re the first government in Canadian history to introduce mandatory regulations to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases. But critics were not impressed, dismissing it as a "dirty air act" and a "hot air plan."
The bill, aimed at dispelling the notion that the party is soft on the environment, sets no short-term targets for cutting greenhouse emissions. In the long term, it says the government will seek to cut emissions by 45 to 65 per cent by 2050.
In the interim, the government will set so-called "intensity targets" which would require industry to reduce the amount of energy used per unit of production, without placing a hard cap on emissions.
Regulations for large polluters would begin in 2010 and the government is giving itself until 2020 to set national emissions-cutting targets for the pollutants that cause smog.
The proposed law – which is certain to get a rough ride from opposition parties that represent the majority in the House of Commons – makes no reference to the Kyoto Protocol even though Canada remains a party to the treaty.
The bill was quickly dismissed as window dressing by critics.
"This sounds to me like a dirty air act," quipped Beatrice Olivastri of Friends of the Earth Canada.
Green party Leader Elizabeth May said: "There is really no news here. Canada stands alone repudiating Kyoto."
The NDP called it a "hot air plan."
"Today, with the tabling of the Conservative government’s Clean Air Act, Canadians’ worst fears were confirmed," the party said in a news release.
"The Conservatives’ made-in-Washington green plan means it will be years before any action will be taken to reduce pollution and halt climate change."
But Environment Minister Rona Ambrose defended the legislation, saying it will give Ottawa "new and stronger powers to do the things we need to do to protect the health of Canadians and our environment."
"We will be the first federal government to introduce mandatory regulations on all industry sectors across Canada to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases," she said.
"We will be the first government to establish national air-quality objectives."
In the coming year, the government will introduce regulations to reduce emissions from motorcycles, outboard engines, all-terrain vehicles and off-road diesel engines.
Officials were unable to say what proportion of Canada’s emissions come from those sources, or by how much they will be reduced.
The plan is also to harmonize vehicle emissions standards with those of the United States over the next 12 months, while new rules for the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks will be established by 2010.
The Sierra Club slammed the vehicle emissions plan as too little too late.
"The proposed federal regulations presented today by the Harper government line up with the outdated and weak standards of the Bush Administration, not the stringent standards of the state of California," the group said in a news release.
"No targets means no accountability," said John Bennett of the Sierra Club. "This announcement is nothing more than a recipe for delay. Adopting the Bush administrations standards will not lower emissions from vehicles." On the sensitive issue of targets for large industrial emitters, the government is moving cautiously, with a three-phase consultation process in coming years.
The previous government already held three years of consultations on regulation of large emitters, which account for about half of Canada’s greenhouse pollution.
The Clean Air Act will transfer a number of substances that were previously defined as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to a new category labelled "air pollutants."
Critics say this shift is almost certain to result in a constitutional challenge. The wording used in the act had been tested before the Supreme Court, while the new wording has not been tested.
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Highlights of the Conservative government’s proposed Clean Air Act:
-By 2011, develop new regulations for vehicle fuel consumption.
-By 2025, set national targets for smog and ozone levels.
-By 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 45 and 65 per cent from 2003 levels.
-No mention of the Kyoto Protocol and the emissions targets the government of Canada committed to in 2002.
-Harmonize vehicle emissions standards with those of the United States over the next 12 months.
-Harmonize regulations with those of the U.S. for volatile organic compound emissions in consumer and commercial products over the next year.
-Over the next three years, discuss and set "intensity based" targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than total emissions targets, for major emitters.
-Negotiate with provinces to create harmonized system for mandatory reporting of air emissions, reduction of regulatory overlap.
-Create environmental damages fund from non-compliance fines to be applied directly to cleanup.
© The Canadian Press, 2006
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