Dion: You can make big money from the environment

[geoffrey]

I still don't get what they are debating. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, no doubt, and we're making more of it now.

So where is the debate exactly?

[tml12]

I still don't get what they are debating. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, no doubt, and we're making more of it now.

So where is the debate exactly?

I for one can't still believe the Liberals are running on the environment. I mean, I think we all know this is a party which seizes on the issue of the day, mixes it with a uniquely Canadian bit of anti-Americanism, and procedes to win majority after majority.

If I were Harper I would devise an environmental plan and proceded to remind voters that the Liberals are the party that allowed Canada's greenhouse gas emissions to rise 25% more than the U.S. under George W. Bush.

I sure am glad the truth is out there, whether or not Liberal voters are psychologically ready to handle it.

[geoffrey]

Very true tml. I'm unsure exactly where the Liberals get their crediability on the environment, there has been no party worse than the previous Liberal governments, in which Dion was environment leader.

He's a much larger failure than Ambrose... Ambrose had a crappy plan. Dion had no plan.

[blueblood]

Very true tml. I'm unsure exactly where the Liberals get their crediability on the environment, there has been no party worse than the previous Liberal governments, in which Dion was environment leader.

He's a much larger failure than Ambrose... Ambrose had a crappy plan. Dion had no plan.

I thought her plan made sense, as far as clean air as a whole is concerned. Getting Baird on with this environment was smart on the CPC side. It would appear Baird has different marching orders than Ambrose, perhaps it was some sort of ruse. Baird is more how shall we say convincing than most CPC MPs.

[Keepitsimple]

Dion still says he can meet Kyoto. Total insanity.

In 1997, Canada, under the previous Liberal government, negotiated our Kyoto target - 6% below GHG levels for 1990 to be reached by 2012. At the time, this was thought to be very agressive and it has proven so for most of the Kyoto signatories. So here we are in 2007, 25% worse than when we started and 30% over our target. If the original goal was aggressive, what insanity would make anyone think that we could even come close to meeting our target? Saying we can even come close by 2012 makes a mockery of the original goal.

In theory, there is a way for Canada to meet it's Kyoto committments - and that is to purchase carbon credits from foreign countries to make up for our shortfall. If we were to accept sending billions of dollars every year to foreign countries - even that plan wouldn't work. Carbon markets are not functioning well, if at all, and there are immense accountability issues with regards to how these foreign countries would spend their "Kyoto Cash".....but in any event - it makes absolutely no sense to even think of sending billions abroad and continuing to pollute at home.

[blueblood]

Dion still says he can meet Kyoto. Total insanity.

In 1997, Canada, under the previous Liberal government, negotiated our Kyoto target - 6% below GHG levels for 1990 to be reached by 2012. At the time, this was thought to be very agressive and it has proven so for most of the Kyoto signatories. So here we are in 2007, 25% worse than when we started and 30% over our target. If the original goal was aggressive, what insanity would make anyone think that we could even come close to meeting our target? Saying we can even come close by 2012 makes a mockery of the original goal.

In theory, there is a way for Canada to meet it's Kyoto committments - and that is to purchase carbon credits from foreign countries to make up for our shortfall. If we were to accept sending billions of dollars every year to foreign countries - even that plan wouldn't work. Carbon markets are not functioning well, if at all, and there are immense accountability issues with regards to how these foreign countries would spend their "Kyoto Cash".....but in any event - it makes absolutely no sense to even think of sending billions abroad and continuing to pollute at home.

If the Libs pulled a stunt like that off, the Tories would blast them apart. What an election platform for the CPC -> "what do you think of your tax dollars going to China? Did it make Global warming go away? Choose your Canada" Not even the CBC would be able to save the Libs from that.

[jbg]

Will the "you can make money" by being green work for the Liberals? Or will the public be cynical about this "money to be made" on the environment, rather than "it's the right thing to do" attitude.

Throw in the Liberal years of not doing anything about Kyoto, and now having a sudden revival of rediscovering the environment, will the public really buy into Dion's world domination of environmental innovation, for financial gain, get the Liberals elected into power?

This is the California approach taken by Schwarzenegger. It got him elected.

Pollution is a severe local problem in the most populous parts of California, because of certain topographical peculiarities. What works politically in California would not necessarily work in Canada.