Then after Steve won in 2006, the Reich.. I mean, government.... announced it would not honour it's signature for Kyoto to reduce emissions and it reduced funding for its climate change plan and cut most programs including the Wind Power Production Incentive and Energuide for Houses (incentives to make homes more energy efficient including tax credits and rebates). He also appointed climate change skeptics to the boards of two key granting agencies for university-based research: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Elimination of programs to promote renewable energy followed after eliminating funds for the research.
More recently Canada has been placed in last of G8 countries' efforts against climate change; one of the few countries on the card whose emissions are still rising. When it comes to oil, unlike Saudi Arabi, our oil is literally in the sand and to dig up and refine it creates higher emissions as well as destroying much of Alberta's northern Boreal forest. Sadly it seems a millennium ago that the 1989 Protocol on CFCs was born in Montreal, Quebec.
Significant study shows that the Kyoto Protocol would stimulate the high tech and construction industries, create jobs, reduce health care costs from air pollution and help protect our ecosystems.
Natural Resources Canada is estimating a $928-million (21%) decrease in its spending for the next year, including a $390-million decrease in spending due to the end of a popular retrofit program that subsidized homeowners for renovations that reduce energy consumption and utility bills.
The Arctic Council (referring to the Arctic Species Trend Index) shows high Arctic vertebrate species declined 26% between 1970 and 2004.
Canada has also been helping to make nuclear bombs for the U.S, Britain, Russia, France, Israel, India and Pakistan- does this go on, while we export 7.5 million kilograms of uranium annually, and still we don't do anything to research renewable energy or reduce toxic emissions significantly on either count? This total of exported uranium is enough to process and make 2,300 warheads. This equals out to the following: we do nothing to help try and preserve life as we create technology to end lives. We are the world leader in uranium exports, generating $1-billion per year in profit.
We have also seen a 59% reduction for annual climate change and clean-air initiatives to $99-million from $240-million.
We are one of the highest per capita for CO2 emissions. Our emissions also rose by 26.2% between 1990 and the year 2007. It's already clearly evident that the process of extraction in Alberta oil sands is three times more damaging to the climate than extracting conventional oil. Facing these facts, how can we continue to do damage and do nothing to help alleviate the effects of the damage caused?
People argue that smaller countries keep emissions low by importing oil from Canada then criticizing us for producing it. This is just not a valid argument- many countries that we export to, we export to them because they do not have the means of production or they do not have the means to meet the demand for the product. They would still buy the oil if it were made by a process that caused less emissions, this is only a scapegoat for those who oppose global warming and want to find a way to weasel out of our duties as human beings.
Gillian McEachern (Program Manager for climate and energy at Environmental Defence, a Toronto-based research and advocacy group) said this on the subject: "At a time when we've sent our diplomats out to fan around the world trying to convince other countries that we're doing a good job at environmental management and shouldn't be penalized for the dirty carbon content of tarsands oil, we have to question what message this budget sends to those countries".
It's true- even if we were upfront and honest about our complete lack of trying, it would come off more honest than pretending to be the good sister.
Maybe this is all because of the role religion plays today in our government- so much for the separation of church and state, right? The picture below accurately represents the view of science and technology from the Conservative corner.
To finish off, I'll leave you with one more quote from Heather McRobie at The Guardian:
"Canada isn't being punished for its geographic reality- it is finally being called out for presenting itself as environmentally friendly"
