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Canadians proposes anti-Kyoto
Ottawa swoops in with climate-change offerPrime Minister Stephen Harper is proposing to strike a joint climate-change pact with president-elect Barack Obama, an initiative that would seek to protect Alberta's oil sands projects from potentially tough new U.S. climate-change rules by offering a secure North American energy supply. Key federal ministers issued the call for a climate-change pact Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Mr. Obama won his historic election victory, in a clear bid by Ottawa to carve out a key place for Canada on the new administration's agenda. Energy security has been a major issue in the U.S. election, and Mr. Obama campaigned heavily on eliminating dependence on Middle East and Venezuelan oil. But he has also condemned the United States's reliance on "dirty oil" -- his advisers have specifically criticized the oil sands -- and has promised tougher climate-change action. Check if the Japanese are interested in a reliable 5M barrel/day supply (planned). A Canada-U.S. climate-change pact could tie those issues together by adopting common standards and mechanisms such as a market-based emission trading system, while acknowledging the important contribution the oil sands make to North American supplies and the need to adopt technologies that would reduce oil sands emissions. Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Ottawa is looking for a joint approach that would protect both the environment and the economy. "When you're talking about the environment, you're also talking about energy, and when you're talking about energy, you're also talking about the economy," Mr. Prentice said in an interview. "The election of president Obama, when one looks at the speeches and the commitments he's talked about in terms of the environment, presents really exciting opportunities for us, as Canadians." To bend over. Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the proposed pact would provide uniformity and supplant the patchwork of plans that are being implemented in various states and provinces. The proposed climate-change deal would also offer Mr. Harper's government a means to engage Mr. Obama on the president-elect's own priorities at a time when the U.S. recession and the resurgence of the Democrats in Washington have fuelled fears of rising protectionism. "The broader importance, I think, is huge," said Tom d'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, a big-business lobby group. "How important is energy independence to the United States? It's a top priority for them. And where does Canada fit into this top priority? Bingo -- we are essential." Canadian Crude: The ones we have really been waiting for. Unlike George W. Bush, who set no medium-term climate-change targets, Mr. Obama has pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to bring them back to 1990 levels by 2020, a reduction of about 15 to 20 per cent. Mr. Harper's government is promising a cut of 20 per cent by 2020, though critics argue his policies are insufficient to meet that target. By which time Obama will be but a memory. Posted by: ed 2008-11-07 |
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