Environmental activists protest in Montreal over government inaction on climate change

[nam78_two]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/02/17/3640984-cp.html

MONTREAL (CP) - Environmental activists are gathering in Montreal today to denounce what the say is federal government inaction on climate change.

About 100 people rallied outside Montreal City Hall Saturday morning to celebrate the second anniversary of Canada's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

But activists say the Conservative government is not doing enough to ease the public's concerns about climate change.

They say the Conservatives must respect a recent bill that was passed to implement the accord.

They say the government's new environmental policies are isolating ordinary Canadians.

The activists are also calling on politicians to better articulate their plans to fight climate change.


Also:


NDP want more details on Liberal environment plan

http://www.mapleridgenews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=46&cat=23&id=834939&more=
Doubleday Canada Limited
By Phil Melnychuk
Staff Reporter
Feb 17 2007

He's never seen it so green.

Tuesday's Throne Speech setting out the provincial government's plan for the next year came in heavy on the environment and it's one in which Randy Hawes has never seen so much attention on the topic.

"The world has changed a lot," even from five years ago, he said.

Environmental evidence is mounting that there is a problem concerning climate change and something has to be done about it, said the Liberal MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission.

"We're saying that B.C. can't change the world, but we can be leaders."

The government's speech from the throne says that conventional, coal-fired electricity plants, will be banned, immediately, unless they produce zero greenhouse gases.

The speech also sets new standards for auto tailpipe emissions and requires the province to be self-sufficient in electrical power generation by 2016.

A B.C. green building code also will be developed over the next year and there will be financial incentives for homeowners to retrofit their homes.

But opposition MLA Michael Sather wants to hear more details.

The speech pitches B.C.'s Gateway Program for the Lower Mainland as a climate-friendly effort, rather than one that will allow more vehicles on the roads. It emphasizes the new transit options by twinning the Port Mann bridge and building North Fraser and South Fraser perimeter routes.

"They talked about urban sprawl and how it increases our footprint," but there's been no accounting of how the Gateway Program will affect greenhouse gas emissions, Sather said.

And instead of setting targets for 2012 to 2020, the NDP politician was looking for something to be done this year.

Sather is on the NDP climate change task force which called for the creation of a non-partisan legislative committee to address the issue. But so far, he hasn't seen that and instead heard there will be a Climate Action Team, for which he needs more details.

But the requirement to require coal-fired plants to have immediate 100 per cent carbon sequestration, or absorption, was one of the most interesting parts of the speech, Sather said.

Sather said he's not seen a throne speech with such little mention of health care.

But Hawes said the government is committed to allowing more choice in health care delivery. "We're going to be emphasizing choice."

He said smoking will be banned on school property in B.C. this year with a ban on smoking indoors in all public spaces to follow.