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Today's News
December 6, 2005: Layton launches ambitious environmental plan
Layton launches ambitious environmental plan
By STEVEN CHASE
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Globe and Mail
Montreal — NDP leader Jack Layton made his first campaign stop in Montreal on Tuesday, using the backdrop of a United Nations conference on global warming to unveil four proposals to clean up drinking water, crack down on polluters and meet Canada's Kyoto targets.
The ideas were long on ambition but most fell short on substance, aside from a $7.2-billion plan Mr. Layton is championing to retrofit 25 per cent of the homes in Canada to make them consume less energy. He called it the "largest ever building renovation project in Canadian history."
The home retrofit program would see Ottawa lend $5.9-billion to Canadians for retrofits and recover it after consumers start enjoying savings on their energy bills. The remainder of the program would offer grants to low-income Canadians and underwrite energy audits to measure how effective homes are at conserving power and fuel.
Other proposals Mr. Layton would lobby for in the next Parliament include:
* Tougher targets to meet the commitments of the Kyoto accord on combatting climate change.
The Liberals pledged to cut emissions of heat trapping greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide by 6 per cent from 1990 levels by the 2008-2012 period. The NDP is pledging to cut them by 25 per cent by 2020. But Mr. Layton was short on details, including the cost of the New Democrat plan. The Liberals have already estimated their plan would cost as much as $10-billion, but Mr. Layton said it's hard to nail down an exact price-tag now.
"We can't be precise about the costs for the next 15 years. That's bit too long a time frame for establishing the complete costing," he said, "But certainly in the near future, investing in such things as wind energy, solar energy, building efficiency [upgrades], public transportation and a green car strategy for Canada would accomplish the objectives we have outlined."
* A Clean Water Act to set national standards and protection for drinking water, including rules for solid waste disposal, dump management, mine site operations, forestry, farming and pesticide use.
* A Polluter Pay and Toxic Pollution Reduction Act, which would overhaul current federal pollution law and enact mandatory prevention and cleanup measures that made polluters pay for their actions.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051206.wlayton1206_2/BNStory/Front*
Topic(s): climate news, Energy News, Political News, Toxics and Health News
Posted By EcoBC
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