Canada: Sierra Club Issues Climate Change Report Card

The Sierra Club of Canada has issued a report that grades Canada's political parties on the climate change patterns. Greens on top, Conservatives not so hot.

The Sierra Club of Canada has issued a report card on the platforms of Canada's federal parties. The Green party did well and the ruling Conservatives failed. The Greens got an A minus for a plan that is called ambitious. National campaigns director Jean Langlois said "It's more ambitious than the minimum as defined by the science." The Liberals, the Green Shift, which is the centrepiece of their platform, received a B+. The Liberal plan is to balance a carbon tax with income-tax cuts. Th Liberals lost marks for an "ambiguous" target for reducing greenhouse gases. The Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party,both, received Bs. "The Bloc have a target that reflects what needs to be done based on science. However, their plan is not very detailed," said Langlois. The NDP also has science-based reduction targets, however, marks were lost for relying only on cap and trade for reducing emissions and forgoing a carbon tax. "Canada is so far behind, we need both," said Langlois. The Conservative party was way down the list with an F+ because it has chosen a "completely inadequate" target for reducing greenhouse gases and because it is relying on intensity targets to meet its goals. Another report card will be issued closer to election day to reflect potential changes during the campaign. Today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed he will meet with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean on Sunday morning and ask her to dissolve the government.This confirms October 14 as the election day. An F+ not and impressive grade, the environment can be a major issue in this election, if it is, then the Tories have some work to do. The full report is here as a pdf file.