GOVERNMENTS

Canadians pump out 3% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions—that's 758 million tonnes per year, at last count (2005). Considering the size of our population, that's really, really sad.

Of course, more politics count than Ottawa’s.  Your province or territory can do its bit.  Your city and town, too.  There’s some tips to look for down below.  But before we get there, a brief recap of what’s gone on in Ottawa since scientists started to say, hey, there’s a big problem coming.

A BRIEF HISTORY (NO PUN INTENDED)

Canada used to be ahead of the world in recognizing the global warming crisis.  In 1988, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney hosted the world’s first climate change conference in Toronto.

Things have gone downhill since. Sure, governments were elected promising big emission cuts.  But emissions kept rising.  Parliament kept right on sleepwalking, rarely discussing the crisis.

In 1997, former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s government signed Kyoto at a conference in Japan. It’s the world’s first climate change treaty.  But even after signing, Canada didn’t get cracking.

    ^{Illustration: Jason Thompson}

Instead, Canada worked to weaken the treaty on the world stage, while ignoring basic things—renewable energy, efficiency standards - that would help us get ready for Kyoto whenever we signed on.

Finally, in 2002, we did. But a plan to honour the treaty didn’t come until 2005, and even then fell short.  Paul Martin was defeated by Stephen Harper shortly afterwards.

It’s hard to imagine things getting worse, but they did.  Mr. Harper cut global warming spending and cancelled what few efficiency projects we had.  Then he rolled out a weak, going-backwards climate plan that was so bad, he had to replace the environment minister that wrote it.

So now here we are.  In 2007.  And 19 years after Canada first hosted a global warming conference, we have the worst emissions record of any country that’s part of Kyoto.  Heck, Canada’s emissions are rising faster than the U.S. of George W. Bush.

No wonder so many people are angry.

But still, there’s no time like the present.  And the faster we get going, the more every party—because none’s perfect—will get the message that we really mean it.

We need hard caps, not soft promises. And if a politician starts talking about “intensity-based” targets, tell them to FLICK OFF.  They don’t bring the emission cuts we need.  Doing more bad things less intensely is no solution to the crisis.  If countries that support Kyoto in Europe can support hard caps on emissions, Canada can, too.

Sounds kind of obvious, but we need to burn less oil and coal.  And use more renewable energy.  Every level of government can make it happen.  They all should.  And it’s a lot like computers…the more we use renewable energy, the cheaper it gets.  In Germany, those smarty pants used more wind power and saw the price of a wind turbine fall by 43%!¹

How about financing and supporting district energy programs?  District, huh? Well, it’s about heating buildings using heat that’s right now being wasted from other industries.  So water warmed up in a steel mill can be used to heat nearby houses.  It's super efficient.  And works!  In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, district heating meets the needs of up to 80% per cent of the urban heating market.  David Suzuki says even about 20 projects here could create 7,000 construction jobs, and 2,500 permanent jobs.

We need real efficiency standards.  Not namby-pamby voluntary targets that let polluters try to look good by doing nothing.  No, real standards for our vehicles, buildings, appliances, and every other big user of energy.  From building codes like the rad R-2000 standard (these homes use on average 30% less energy!)² to California standards for cars, it’s time to say that cutting pollution is mandatory.

We need to create jobs by fixing what didn’t work before.  Just because a building is old doesn’t mean it can’t be souped up to pollute less.




We need to stop subsidizing polluters.  No more giveaways—Canada shells out about $1 billion a year—to oil companies rolling in cash.  Put that money into making greener products cheaper, or cleaner, greener power.

We need more public transit, and better land use to increase population density so transit is more of an option.  Sprawl sucks!  Those green spaces are needed, but traffic gridlock isn’t. It’s time to tell our car-crazy culture to FLICK OFF.



So what about a tax on gasoline and diesel? It’s really not that far-fetched. If we actually paid the true, un-subsidized cost of gasoline and oil, we’d be paying out the wazoo. Europeans pay 2 to 3 times more for fuel than Canada and their consumption is one third less. Oh, and drivers in London, England pay "congestion charges" to drive around downtown. SUV drivers also pay tax for parking on the street in London. Toronto-the-car-addicted could use some of that legislation.

And don’t forget forests!  The Boreal forest that runs from the Yukon to Newfoundland is the world’s biggest land-based carbon reserve.  The last thing our climate needs is more clear-cuts.



All around the world, governments are helping with the problem.  Just because Ottawa’s been such a duffer for so long doesn’t mean all governments are so bad.

So some helpful signs of what could happen here:

• Way back in 1994, Japan launched a national program for solar roofs. It put 100,000 panels up.

• In Bogotá, Colombia, the air quality got so bad they began car-free days that turn roads into family-friendly spaces.

• Portugal’s got solar building standards.



• Denmark got so ahead of the curve on wind power, it gets 25% of its power from it.  And it’s the country’s third-largest export.

And even without Kyoto, hundreds of U.S. cities have banded together for some really smart projects to cut their own emissions.

So whether it’s federal, provincial/territorial or municipal politics you care about most, your politicians can become part of the solution.  Just don’t take any old promise.  Make them work for it!
 
And don’t go thinking that Canada’s got nothing right.  Ottawa may be a bit depressing, but some of our cities really got into it.

IF YOU CAN'T CHANGE THEM... BEAT THEM!

If you want to make a run for the Prozac aisle, think about what Canadian governments are doing on climate change, right?  Well, not always.  Don’t get us wrong.  Most of the time, the news isn’t good.  But buried in the depressing state of things is some hope.
 
And wherever you live, there’s some of it close by.  Think City Hall.  And some spanky solutions that cities and towns are making work.  They’ve even got together and formed the Partners for Climate Protection.  It’s a project of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and while MPs fight, 152 cities and towns are rolling up their sleeves.
 

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

Take Halifax.  It’s the first North American city to get its head around climate change in a big way.  It began with its Climate SMART program, which counted all its emissions.  Then set out to cut them.  It saved 300,000 tons of emissions by capturing methane from garbage dumps and using it as energy.
 
A new rapid bus transit system began.  They even use fish oil to power some buses.  And public buildings have been made super-energy efficient.  Next up are steps for developers and new houses.  Hey, sprawl cities!  Maybe you should take a hint.
 
But Halifax isn’t stopping there.  Nope.  It’s getting ahead of the curve by preparing for what global warming will bring.  Among its projects are revamping its sewage system to prepare for ocean levels rising by a meter.  Of course, Halifax is trying to prevent that, too.  One of its goals is to meet Kyoto, no matter Ottawa gets up to.



WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
 
Near the other coast, Whistler, B.C., is ahead of the game, too.
 
Each year, it tracks and publishes its carbon footprint.  For its buildings.  And municipal vehicles, too.  All with an eye to keeping emissions low.  Whistler also wants more energy produced locally and from renewable sources—and is making strides.  In 2001, 47¬ per cent of its energy came from renewables (including hydro).  By 2004, that was up to 59 per cent.  Hey, hey.
 
But it’s not done yet.  Busy preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler has a comprehensive sustainable development plan.  You can check it out at www.whistler2020.ca 




GREATER SUDBURY, ONTARIO
 
Think Sudbury is all smokestacks?  Think again.  Times are changing in the nickel city, and taxpayers are counting their quarters.  Their city is out to save $5 million in energy costs with a goal of producing half its energy locally. Energy efficiency equals cha-ching, after all.
 
It’s not just talk, either.  Sudbury is sticking to its plan and in 2004, received the Sustainable Community Award.
 
Some of its great ideas.  Just like a book, you can borrow an energy meter from the library to see where your house can improve efficiency.  And there’s an interactive tour of a typical home online so anyone can see how to save money by burning less fuel.
 
You might not live in Sudbury.  But you can still check out the online tool
here.




REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN
 
You don’t need to be near the ocean to get things going, either.  Smack in the middle of the Prairie, Regina is ahead of the curve.  It was the third Canadian community to commit to cutting its climate-changing emissions.  That was way before Al Gore found religion, too.
 
So far, Regina has changed its street lights to make them more efficient.  It’s boosted efficiency of some public buildings and dumped gasoline from its fleet of cars.  And in something you don’t think of as climate-changing often, boosted the efficiency of its drinking water and sewage plants.
 
If you think the water that comes out the tap or goes down the toilet has
nothing to do with global warming, think again.  In Toronto, the biggest user
of power is…the water company.  Water doesn’t move by itself.  And pumping it
takes power.
 
Check out more of Regina’s winning ways.




FREDERICTON, NEW BRUNSWICK
 
And last but not least, how about Fredericton?  It wants to be the first Canadian city to meet its Kyoto targets.  It’s official city policy.  How about that?
 
Now, we mean no disrespect to the good folks in the New Brunswick capital.  But it strikes us that being the first community to reach Kyoto’s targets should be a real fight.  So how about you speak to your local councillor or mayor and see if they’re not up to giving Frederiction a run for its money?

A good place to start is the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ site to help get your hometown as green as can be.  And what better way to celebrate than hosting the Flick Fest in spring 2008?  So if you haven’t entered your community in the contest, c’mon, get flicking.


HERE'S AN UPDATE:

There have been no shortage of announcements in spring '07. The biggest one was in Ottawa, with the new federal climate plan. The long and the short of it? That we'll meet Kyoto targets by 2024. Hey! Only twelve years late, not soooo bad! Sure, so we've heard the Feds have banned the baddie light bulbs, but compared to other countries, and heaps of other cities/US states, Canada is lagging behind the pack.

To be fair, Canada was rotten with the whole climate change thing before Stephen Harper became prime minister. But now that we're all clued in about the bleak future of the planet and all, you'd think Ottawa would catch on. But no, they keep rejecting large-scale renewable energy projects. They hardly make a peep about the tar sands ordeal, and they could seem to care less about making polluters pay for their climate-changing emissions. Shucks, Canada still isn't even up to the California emission standards yet...

^{1 Source: Worldwatch Institute
2 Source: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/new-homes/r-2000/About-r-2000.cfm}