Enviro: Canada: An action plan to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution

Two weeks ago, Canada's Conservative minority-government introduced its EcoAction plan in a presentation by recently-appointed Minister of the Environment, John Baird. His submission launched new draft federal legislation on the environment and is entitled "Turning the Corner: An action plan to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution" (Apr28,2k7). The intro page can be found on the govt's website.

The Government of Canada's plan to regulate both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from industrial emitters will pave the way for a cleaner, healthier environment.

Released on April 26, 2007, the Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution will:

* Impose mandatory targets on industry to achieve a goal of an absolute reduction of 150 megatonnes in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

* Impose targets on industry so that air pollution from industry is cut in half by 2015.

* Regulate the fuel efficiency of cars and light duty trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year.

* Strengthen energy efficiency standards for a number of energy-using products, including light bulbs.

On May1,2k7, the govt released the following statement to the news media:

Actions by Canada's New Government to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollution

May 1, 2007

Canada's New Government is committed to delivering real reductions on greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Diverse and complementary measures announced to date include:

* The Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions, which imposes mandatory targets on industry and gives them access to a range of cost-effective options to meet the targets, including:
o a capped technology fund to help the Canadian industrial sector develop new solutions critical to reducing greenhouse gases;
o a domestic emissions trading system. We will also look at future linkages with emissions trading systems in the US, and possibly Mexico, with further international linkages to be explored over time;
o domestic offset credits to engage other sectors of the Canadian economy to make greenhouse gas reductions, and;
o access to the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

* Our Plan also:
o addresses emissions from transportation by regulating for the first time the fuel efficiency of cars and light duty trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year,
o strengthens energy efficiency standards for a number of energy-using products, including light bulbs, and
o recognizes the urgent need to take action to improve indoor air quality and commits to implement measures to do so.

* $1.5 billion to support to support environmental provincial and territorial projects, to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution;

* $2 billion to support renewable fuel production;

North America > Canada (Enviro)

* 5% renewable fuels content in gasoline by 2010 and 2% renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2012 ;

* $2 billion for EcoEnergy Initiatives to help Canadians use energy more efficiently, boost renewable energy supplies and develop cleaner energy technologies;

* $1.3 billion for public transit;

* $100 million for EcoTransport Strategy for new initiatives in clean transportation;

* $36 million over the next two years for "scrappage" programs to retire older vehicles;

* Rebate of up to (+) $2,000 on fuel-efficient vehicles and levy of up to (-) $4,000 on vehicles that are fuel-inefficient;

* Tax credit for the purchase of monthly public transit passes;

* The formation of the EcoEnergy Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force to recommend the best ways for Canada to implement on a large scale this promising technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it deep underground; and

* $160 million over two years to offer performance-based rebates on new light duty vehicles.

Canada's New Government is also taking action to preserve Canada's natural heritage, strengthen the implementation of the Species at Risk Act, implement a new National Water Strategy and improve the enforcement of environmental protection laws.

The govt's plan has been severely criticized by all three opposition parties in the House of Commons (Libs, NDP, Bloc Quebecois), by Al Gore, and David Suzuki. So, the criticisms are better known than the plan itself.

One feature of the plan not clearly outlined above is the treatment of two industries. The first is the oil/gas industry in the zone of the Alberta Tar Sands where production willl increase by a factor of five (altho its market has been affected by the announcement of geological studies in Colorado, USA, which are said to hold enuff reserves to obesolesce US dependent on Middle East oil, the USA being a prime market for Albert gas and oil). The govt has in the plan a development effort to remove carbon dioxide emmissions from the product at the source in Alberta and pump it undergone into the empty holes left by extraction. Suzuki has come down very hard on this, but there is interest in the technics of proposal. However, even if feasible, affordable, and technically possible, the idea of storage of CO2 is as welcome in many quarters as is the storage of nuclear waste.

The second zone is located a world away (so to speak) in industrial Ontario, where the auto industry and its workforce are given delays regarding enforcement of the plan's features. Industry generally and the Canadian Auto Workers are pleased with the delays which give them an adjustment period in which Canada's contribution to greenhouse gases [GHG] will increase, rather than decrease. The govt argues that the plan's ambiguity results from balancing environmental concerns with the continuing health of the an economy, that over time can and will adjust. Of couse, Suzuki will have none of this.