Canada to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16151310

This is brought up in the Canadian Politics topic, but I think it's important enough for its own topic.

Mm. That's probably not good overall.

It was hard enough to get a government that signed onto the Kyoto accord, then we got neocons in power and they've been shaming Canada in the foreign public scene for years now.

Not really much here to discuss. Please use the Article Dump thread in Yack Fest for posting news articles that really don't lend themselves to discussion or conversation.

Really?

I'm not talky so I didn't comment, but surely you could talk about what ramifications this has for environmentalism? I'm aware the Kyoto Protocol hasn't exactly been devoutly adhered to.....but a country officially renouncing it seems like a big deal. They seem to not be denying global warming, just citing economic reasons as justification. I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

edited 13th Dec '11 12:09:47 PM by occono

I know the US not ratifying this was supposed to be a huge freakin' deal ten years ago, but I was never really sure if anyone was actually living up to the guidelines proposed. Is Canada's withdrawal going to promote more countries abandoning it in favor of the "newer" green measures?

He said meeting Canada's obligations under Kyoto would cost $13.6bn (10.3bn euros; £8.7bn): "That's $1,600 from every Canadian family - that's the Kyoto cost to Canadians, that was the legacy of an incompetent Liberal government".

Oh fuck you.

That assumes you tax everybody for it, instead of, you know, the businesses that pollute shit...

Exactly why it's a stupid statement.

It's not just that. Taxing one set of businesses promotes economic growth in green industries which could mean new jobs in new industries with new salaries. So in fact it could be a positive effect on Canadian families. Also we have to pay for clean up of pollution by taxes.

The legacy of an incompetent Tory government is that we will pay billions for carbon capture in BC, 10s of billions for toxic lake cleanup in Alberta.

But... but... Canada! Sane country! Sane!

Honestly though, why the hell is there finger-pointing between governments? National territories only go in two-dimensions; across sea and land. We don't own the thousands of cubic metres of air hovering over our nation-states.

The sooner we solve this shit, the better. Green industry would take off in the next few decades, and China and some European countries are making some progress in that field. If North America loses out on this potential stream of revenue, that's more theoretical jobs lost in the long-run, than absolute jobs saved in the short-run.

LOL no.

Okay, granted, under Harper, it's not so sane.

Let me rectify that.

But... but...! Canada! Sane country! Historically sane!

I have heard that Canada doesn't even have the equivalent of a clean air and water act. Is this true?

Canadians are good at a lot of things. Environmentalism isn't one of them.

edited 13th Dec '11 2:11:18 PM by ohsointocats

Why should Canada stick its neck out if the US and China are determined not to obey Kyoto?

Harper's comments are predictably asinine, but meh.

Into Cats is right. The tar pits they're mining for oil, for one. And the fact they apparently just don't care about the safety of their employees in their company's foreign sites.

Well, for one, they signed the treaty when American and China didn't. For another, the current party is taking cheap shots as the liberals just because they can in the process, which seems to be becoming more typical of conservatives all over this continent.

edited 13th Dec '11 2:15:40 PM by AceofSpades

I have heard that Canada doesn't even have the equivalent of a clean air and water act

We don't need it, the provinces dod a good enough job (excluding Alberta).

LOL no

LOL yes.

Um, the reasoning for making it national is so that you wouldn't have to say "except Alberta." I mean, Alberta is a big place with a lot of heavy-polluting industry. It seems like the place that would most need it but be least willing to do it.

Which is the point.

edited 13th Dec '11 2:27:54 PM by ohsointocats

What I Watched, what I expected, what I got, Canada edition!

edited 13th Dec '11 2:43:57 PM by MyGodItsFullofStars

Do Canadians really go up to bears to ask their names? I may be a city-folk, but that seems unwise...

There have been two acts proposed by the Canadian federal government with the name "Clean Air Act". The first, passed in 1970, sought to regulate the release of four specific air pollutants: asbestos, lead, mercury, and vinyl chloride. It has since been replaced by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in the year 2000.

Former Canadian Environment Minister Rona Ambrose introduced the second Clean Air Act in mid-October 2006, containing mostly measures to fight smog pollution and greenhouse gases. On October 19, 2006, Ambrose revealed details of the plan which would include reducing the 2003 emissions of greenhouse gases by about 45 to 65% for the year 2050. There are plans for regulations on vehicle fuel consumption for 2011 and targets for ozone and smog levels for 2025. The effectiveness of this act has been challenged by the opposition parties, with Jack Layton of the New Democratic Party stating that the act does little to prevent climate change and that more must be done. After threatening to make this into an election issue the Conservative Party agreed to rework the act with the opposition parties

Er, never mind. We have.. two?

And most of us are city folk anyways.

edited 13th Dec '11 2:46:51 PM by Erock

Conservatives. They can ruin Canada too.

edited 13th Dec '11 7:12:32 PM by Baff

I think this should read "Conservatives. They can ruin almost anything."

The last good Conservative PM was Mac Donald.

Every day in Canadian news you can find more scandals on the scale of entire regimes by Harper in a day. I don't think Canada has had a government so corrupt ever.

• Pulls out of Kyoto. Green leader May says this might actually be breaking domestic law because we signed a treaty, you can't just trash it.

• Killed the Wheat Board. Judge ruled that was illegal because the Wheat Board Act requires the government to get a mandate from the farmers before doing so. Then the Tories did it anyway, and the judge just said he doesn't have any magical power to enforce the actual law if the government is just going to flagrantly ignore the courts. Yay.

• Tories ignored the plight of aboriginal women, now the UN is launching an inquiry into the matter. Good job tories, got more excuses?

• Attawapiskat native community is going to be put under third party management despite the fact the auditor general has repeatedly stated that it is not cost-effective in solving money issues. The Tories blame the band council for inept management, when they ignore the fact that per capita total money is 10k/year per person in the community when the average Canadian receives well over 23-26k in tax funded goods/services/infrastructure per year.

• A report was released that Environment Canada doesn't even have the labs, equipment or staff to actually conduct many of its environmental tests. Then the Tories claimed they expanded funding. Right, so where did the money go? They complain about native Americans unable to handle finances? Look in the mirror.

And for other strange stuff, the federal government is getting sued over the Wheat Board decision. Also, Quebec is suing over the scrapping of the gun registry.

We'll see how much tax money the Tories can embezzle tomorrow!

@ Erock

And you know, he's listed as Liberal-Conservative. :)

edited 13th Dec '11 7:35:11 PM by breadloaf