North American Carbon Emissions Plan

A call for a plan to apply to the whole of North America for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions came from Steven Harper, Prime Minister of Canada.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to see, in the future, a policy for the whole continent and to work with the new administration in the USA, aiming for the same results in reducing emissions of greenhouse gas, using a policy of regulation.

The Conservative Party under Harper had faced many severe critics since they did not reduce harmful emissions, by 2012, to 6% below the 1990 range, which the Kyoto Protocol required them to do.

In a cabinet reshuffle after the election, he moved Jim Harper from his industry portfolio to Secretary for the Environment.

Prentice in his first interview with reporters as environment secretary said that he plans to maintain equilibrium between the environment, continuity of energy supply and the economy.

We have the very challenging responsibility to protect the environment, whilst shielding the economy and advancing our interests in it, he added.

Prentice in his ministerial role also became part of a cabinet committee for the safety of energy and the environment together with the Minister for Resources Lisa Raitt and National Income Minister, Jean Pierre Blackburn.

Newly appointed Minister of Transport, Baird is the chairman.

President Bush did not endorse the protocol made in Kyoto, a very sweeping climate change agreement.

He was the only head of an advanced industrialised country not to do so and, in US political circles it is still a controversial subject.

John Baird, previously responsible for the environment brought out, last year, a scheme to achieve reductions in emissions, by 2020, of 20% of 2006 levels.

He said that the level set by the Liberal government could not be met.

The Conservatives maintained this strategy in the recent election and defeated the Liberals with their plan for a tax on emissions.

Prentice, who describes himself as keen on outdoor activities and conservation, said that the current economic recession made it more difficult for the committee to reduce carbon emissions from Canada and protect the environment.

He described the task as being among the highly challenging issues that the country faces.

He went on to say economic and environmental issues need handling in unison, as nations everywhere are beginning to understand.

We have to make difficult decisions about some policy matters, such as how we control these emissions, and how they impact on the growth and advancement of the economy.