The Government's Climate change plan

Wasn't a plan, or really have all that much to do with Climate Change.

The only person who has likely put any thought at all into this issue is Lex Luthor. Trust that guy to know exactly where the ocean's will rise and fall, and buy all the land that will soon become beachfront property. Land, as he loves to say, is the only thing they aren't making any more of.

The Good - there is the potential for recognition for early action, but no indication of how meaningful this will be. There is a clear desire to work with the provinces, but no indication of how this will occur without Clean Air Act (Bill C-30) amendments to improve the CEPA equivalency provisions and ensure an appropriate legal foundation for it to occur. It is the first time anyone even close to the government has been honest about the economic impacts of hurriedly meeting the Kyoto requirements.

The Bad - The Technology Fund disappears in 2018 - if it is working, why would they make it go away? Apparently this is because if it didn’t have a concluding time, it would legally be seen as a tax given some complicated legal arguments around the foundation of the regulations being on criminal law. Poppycock.

The air pollutant approach is based on the Federal Government developing its regulations and only “standing down” if the province signs an equivalency agreement. The process continues to deliver the “stand down” approach instead of the “back stop” approach which multiple Ministers have agreed to in public.

The Ugly - The Federal Government has clearly not developed this plan in consultation with the provinces. Despite the fact that the Federal Government declares it wants to work with the provinces, they don’t seem to be acting in a way that would make that happen. 18% intensity improvement requirement for existing facilities between 2006 and 2010 is simply not feasible- this is code for a random carbon tax on all energy users but not the producers who can expand their facilities without recourse.

The Ironic - The government has said it can't meet Kyoto, but if the Senate passes Bill c-288 - it would be required by law to meet Kyoto by law. The irony is that the Liberal Senate holds everything up...right?

That having been said- compared to every other plan that I have seen it is a step in the right direction. The cut-off year was picked for one very simple reason - politics. It is easy to explain in a donut shop on a campaign trip (we are starting right now!) and it let's Baird do what Baird does best - complain about 13 (or ten) years of inaction.