Fighting Climate Change: More Of This, And Less Of The Other, Please

Encouraging news from my home province (emphasis added):

Quebec vows ambitious cuts to greenhouse gas emissions

Quebec Premier Jean Charest unveiled an ambitious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, setting a target similar to what the European Union has adopted.

The stringent new goal would place Quebec among North American leaders with the lowest level of emissions per habitant on the continent.

Because of the province's reliance on hydro-electricity, Quebec already has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the country at 11 tonnes per habitant, about half the Canadian average. Mr. Charest made the announcement before the Montreal Council on Foreign relations as he prepares to attend next month's United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Quebec plans to reach its objective by investing in public transportation while adopting tougher regulations to reduce automobile emissions, similar to the strict standards set in California. The province is also relying on the rapid evolution of new technologies in electric cars. Mr. Charest explained that the new target was defined in co-operation with other members of the Western Climate Initiative. The plan would require Quebec to significantly reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.

Environmental groups applauded the initiative and said they would fully co-operate with the government in helping to achieve the goal, insisting that Quebec could go even further.

“While science requires reducing emissions by 25 per cent to 40 per cent under 1990 levels by 2020, we believe that it is possible to go even further and do even more. We will work with the Quebec government and the rest of civil society to propose certain actions and additional measures to improve on the objectives,” a coalition of environmentalist groups stated Monday.

Canada needs more of this ... from all provinces, eh?

But not from Harper and his Harpies - for one, remember that our Prime Poseur won't even attend the Coppenhagen conference by himself.

And meanwhile (emphasis added):

Oilsands impact left unchecked, study finds
Tories failing to enforce laws to protect water, environmental groups report

The Harper government is failing to enforce federal law and exercise its constitutional authority in at least 10 different aspects of monitoring the exploitation of Alberta's oilsands and its impact on water, says a new report to be released today.

The study, prepared by seven environmental organizations and obtained exclusively by Canwest News Service, highlights key testimony from recent federal hearings that revealed a failure to crack down on major water diversions, regulate toxic pollution and leakage as well as the absence of legislation to reduce acid rain and regulations to address climate change.

"While the federal government is already engaged in some areas related to oilsands activity, it fails to adequately utilize or enforce federal laws designed to protect public health and the environment," said the report, Watered Down: Overcoming Federal Inaction on the Impact of Oilsands Development to Water Resources.

The report says the federal government has the authority to crack down on operations that threaten public health under existing fisheries and environmental-protection legislation as well as its constitutional power to "make laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada."

However, the expanding oilsands operations in Western Canada and their impact on water resources are not being properly monitored or regulated, the report said.

"Oilsands activity is projected to result in the clearing of 4,802 square kilometres of forests and wetlands for mining pits and also for the construction of roads, well sites, and pipelines that destroy the land's ability to maintain ecosystem health by storing and filtering water," it said.

The report also criticizes Environment Canada officials for testifying in parliamentary hearings that toxic water from oilsands operations is not leaking into the environment -- despite reports from the Alberta government and the industry itself that acknowledge seepage into groundwater and surface water.

"If you really look at all the testimony (from federal hearings) the overwhelming response was the feds are not doing enough," said Danielle Droitsch, lead author of the report and the executive director of Alberta-based Water Matters. "In fact, in some cases, it's almost like they are looking the other way."

Which brings me back to this old post ... as put in a more recent context with these newer ones.

'Nuff said.