The New Democrat Climate Change Accountability Act
Greenhouse gas emissions will cause catastrophes. We face environmental issues such as rising sea levels, massive deforestation, species extinctions, virulent diseases and extreme weather storms. For years, thousands of Canadians have lobbied Members of Parliament in an effort keep Canada’s future green.
The NDP have answered their call by passing the Climate Change Accountability Act. On May 05, 2010, the New Democrats succeeded in passing (Bill C-311) into its final vote in the House of Commons by a vote of 149 to 136. Canada’s only federal climate-change legislation will make the government accountable by mandating regular reports on firm targets. Punishment for violators is enforced. This ensures that the government complies. More importantly, it ensures that greenhouse gas emissions are cut and targets are met.
Protecting our environment is critical to ensure that our great country has a long and strong future. It is our responsibility to future generations to protect the land of this great country. The NDP realizes this responsibility which is why it took the first step in introducing the Climate Change Accountability Act.
How our Climate Change Accountability Act works
- Cuts greenhouse gas emissions – 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050
- Mandates the government to set regulations that ensure targets are met
- Establishes independent reviews to ensure government measures reach targets
- Punishes polluters who break regulations
- Ensures government accountability with publicized 5 year target plans
Here’s the statistics behind the bill :
Temperature Limit: science indicates that we must avoid a 2 degree Celsius increase (from pre-industrial levels) in the earth’s temperature in order to avoid catastrophic climate effects.
Concentration Objective: science indicates that limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees requires stabilizing CO2e at 400 ppm. In order to check temperature increases, we need to stabilize the concentration of CO2-equivalent in the atmosphere (for three-quarters of the last millennium, CO2e has be around 280 ppm, but by 2004 the amount of CO2e in the atmosphere reached a level of 377 ppm).
2020 GHG reduction target: 25% reduction by 2020. This target lies on a straight line with Kyoto 2008-12 target (6% reduction) and 2050 target.
2050 GHG reduction target: 80% reduction by 2050 for Canada. Industrialized countries must reduce emissions by 85-90% between 1990 and 2050. Canada’s emissions are, on a per capita basis, among the highest in the world.
Source: Bruce Hyer, MP
Punishes polluters who break regulations
