Prime Minister Harper strikes a strong figure on the
world stage these days, doesn’t he? Swift
in condemning the barbarity of Isis terrorists and the aggressive unilateralism
of Russia; steadfast in defence of Arctic sovereignty; resolute in his
uncritical support of Israel; and
determined not to attend the Meeting of Leaders at the U.N. Climate
Summit. But surely there is more to
strength than simply a stubborn refusal to change one’s simple tune. Is a more
balanced approach to Palestine and a little more genuine leadership on climate
issues too much to ask for? From this government, apparently, it is.
The UN Climate Summit is intended to “galvanize and
catalyze climate action” in advance of the Paris COP climate talks in 2015
where countries will form binding agreements to address global warming. The
400,000 demonstrators demanding climate action in New York were not
rabble-rousers who had nothing better to do. They were concerned citizens
responding to the growing emergency of runaway climate change.
Of course, Canada was represented by Environment
Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who announced that Canada would bring in the same
higher vehicle emissions standards that the United States is bringing in. That
has always been the Harper policy: do it if the Americans do it first, and then
it won’t run the risk of a high economic cost.
I could find such a policy acceptable, if I didn’t feel that a G-7
country that calls itself an “energy superpower” has a responsibility to do
more, and if I didn’t know that the global costs of adapting to climate change
will run into many trillions of dollars, and if I didn’t know that there are
economic benefits to be had in green power. This government can, and should, do more.
After the cynical fakery of the Liberals’
non-implementation of the Kyoto Agreement, Mr. Harper replaced it with his own
emission target for 2020, which he presented in his 2007 policy statement,
“Turning the Corner.” Just like Mr. Chrétien, however, Mr. Harper failed to
immediately implement the necessary policies. Canadian emissions have declined
slightly, but that was because of the
2008 recession, some decline of heavy industry, Ontario’s reduction of
coal-fired power, and climate policies in British Columbia and Quebec. Mr.
Harper’s adoption of U.S. vehicle regulations will have only a small effect by
2020.
So the Harper government won’t achieve the 2020
target, even though it still pretends that it will. And it won’t admit that one
of the principal reasons that Environment Canada is predicting that Canadian emissions in 2020 will exceed
the target by at least 20 per cent is the government’s own promotion of
oilsands development and pipelines in all directions. But then honesty in
climate change policy has not been the forte of Canadian governments, whether
Liberal or Conservative.
