October 10, 2006
Screw Kyoto, we can take responsibility for our own actions...
Dinning proposes domestic greenhouse gas plan
Updated Mon. Oct. 2 2006 11:06 PM ET
Canadian Press
CALGARY -- Alberta needs to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and can do so without jeopardizing its booming economy, a businessman running for the leadership of the province's Conservatives said Monday.
"We are one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in all of North America," Jim Dinning said as he announced his environmental plan in Calgary.
"We can do something about that here in this province. Right here, in Alberta, we can own the plan to arrest that growth."
Dinning, a former provincial finance minister and one of nine candidates to replace retiring Premier Ralph Klein, said it doesn't need to be a choice between saving the environment and sustaining the economy.
"Protecting Alberta's environment isn't just the right thing to do, it's also smart economics," said Dinning, who added the province could lead the way in developing new technologies and adjusting attitudes.
The province doesn't have to wait for Ottawa to impose environmental rules or be told what to do, he suggested.
"It's our backyard. It's our responsibility and we will take the lead here in Alberta."
Dinning said that if he wins the leadership vote late this year, he wants to set "aggressive targets" within 18 months for reducing emissions and develop incentives and regulations to ensure those targets are met.
Oil-rich Alberta was one of the loudest critics of the previous Liberal federal government when it signed onto the Kyoto accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The province argued its energy industry needed a longer timeline to develop improved pollution-control technology and increase conservation.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have backed away from Kyoto, but Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said late last week that she will soon announce new national targets for cutting air pollution.
Ambrose said Ottawa will no longer rely on voluntary efforts to curb emissions that contribute to smog and climate change and will regulate the oil and gas sector to ensure targets are met.
Ambrose has summoned Canada's big car manufacturers to a meeting Tuesday, where she says she'll lay out plans for Ottawa's first stab at regulating car emissions.
Dinning said he hopes the federal government would support any Alberta initiatives.
His plans also include establishing a research foundation to discover the next big breakthrough in clean energy.
Marlo Raynolds, executive director for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said Dinning has identified the key areas that require attention in Alberta.
But Raynolds suggested more details are needed.
"It's so difficult to assess these things when we talk about aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "What in his mind are aggressive targets?"
Raynolds said the province needs to "err on the side of action, not process," after 10 years of little action on environmental policies.
"In my mind, I don't think we need another 18 months to set targets."
Dinning also said Monday that he would make sure part of the province's resource revenues went towards permanent funding for its sustainable water-use strategy, especially in the northern oilsands region.
He would also develop a land-use strategy aimed at slowing urban sprawl and issue an immediate moratorium on new projects and mineral leases on the environmentally sensitive southeast slopes of the Rockies.
Updated Mon. Oct. 2 2006 11:06 PM ET
Canadian Press
CALGARY -- Alberta needs to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and can do so without jeopardizing its booming economy, a businessman running for the leadership of the province's Conservatives said Monday.
"We are one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in all of North America," Jim Dinning said as he announced his environmental plan in Calgary.
"We can do something about that here in this province. Right here, in Alberta, we can own the plan to arrest that growth."
Dinning, a former provincial finance minister and one of nine candidates to replace retiring Premier Ralph Klein, said it doesn't need to be a choice between saving the environment and sustaining the economy.
"Protecting Alberta's environment isn't just the right thing to do, it's also smart economics," said Dinning, who added the province could lead the way in developing new technologies and adjusting attitudes.
The province doesn't have to wait for Ottawa to impose environmental rules or be told what to do, he suggested.
"It's our backyard. It's our responsibility and we will take the lead here in Alberta."
Dinning said that if he wins the leadership vote late this year, he wants to set "aggressive targets" within 18 months for reducing emissions and develop incentives and regulations to ensure those targets are met.
Oil-rich Alberta was one of the loudest critics of the previous Liberal federal government when it signed onto the Kyoto accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.
The province argued its energy industry needed a longer timeline to develop improved pollution-control technology and increase conservation.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have backed away from Kyoto, but Environment Minister Rona Ambrose said late last week that she will soon announce new national targets for cutting air pollution.
Ambrose said Ottawa will no longer rely on voluntary efforts to curb emissions that contribute to smog and climate change and will regulate the oil and gas sector to ensure targets are met.
Ambrose has summoned Canada's big car manufacturers to a meeting Tuesday, where she says she'll lay out plans for Ottawa's first stab at regulating car emissions.
Dinning said he hopes the federal government would support any Alberta initiatives.
His plans also include establishing a research foundation to discover the next big breakthrough in clean energy.
Marlo Raynolds, executive director for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said Dinning has identified the key areas that require attention in Alberta.
But Raynolds suggested more details are needed.
"It's so difficult to assess these things when we talk about aggressive targets for greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "What in his mind are aggressive targets?"
Raynolds said the province needs to "err on the side of action, not process," after 10 years of little action on environmental policies.
"In my mind, I don't think we need another 18 months to set targets."
Dinning also said Monday that he would make sure part of the province's resource revenues went towards permanent funding for its sustainable water-use strategy, especially in the northern oilsands region.
He would also develop a land-use strategy aimed at slowing urban sprawl and issue an immediate moratorium on new projects and mineral leases on the environmentally sensitive southeast slopes of the Rockies.
