Macleans - Harper's Pollution "Plan" DOA In Face Of Pissed-Off Opposition

[hatrack]

OTTAWA (CP) - The Clean Air Act that the Conservatives hoped would revive their flagging electoral fortunes appears to be dead on arrival. Opposition parties and environmental groups slammed the proposed legislation Thursday, dismissing it as a "dirty air act" and a "hot air plan." All three opposition parties in the House of Commons said they will vote against the bill, meaning it has no chance of passing into law in the current minority Parliament.

The Conservatives - eager to dispel the notion that the party is soft on the environment and regain support in Quebec and among moderate voters - built expectations around the bill by making it the centrepiece of their green agenda. But it contains no short-term targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions - although the government says it will set industry-specific targets next year. Instead, the bill sets a goal of cutting such emissions to about half of 2003 levels by 2050.

"This sounds to me like a dirty air act," quipped Beatrice Olivastri of Friends of the Earth Canada. National objectives for chemicals that cause smog, such as particulate matter and ozone, would be set in 2020. 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. "This is part of our vision for the environment and a significant part of our green plan, which reflects the very best of Canadian values," Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said of the bill.

EDIT

"There is really no news here," said Green party Leader Elizabeth May. "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." Former environment minister Stephane Dion, a Liberal leadership candidate, said the bill is a "disaster" and "a way to kill Kyoto."

EDIT

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/news/shownews.jsp?content=n101981A