| Clean Air Act Delays Action | 19 October 06 |
 The new Canadian government released the centrepiece of its "made-in-Canada" environment agenda October 19, 2006. The Clean Air Act lacks short-term targets for cutting greenhouse emissions and smog-causing pollution. Large polluters will not be regulated under the new Act at all until at least 2010.Matthew Bramley of the Pembina Institute noted that previous government held extensive consultations on regulation of large industrial polluters. "We've just been through three solid years of consultations. There were hundreds of meetings from 2003 to 2005." Hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions would not come into effect until 2020 or 2025 but the government will seek to cut emissions by 45 to 65 per cent by 2050. Until then, the government will set "intensity-based" emissions targets. The Clean Air Act will also transfer a number of substances previously defined as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to a new category labeled "air pollutants." Critics say this shift is almost certain to result in a constitutional challenge. The wording used in CEPA had been tested before the Supreme Court, while the new wording has not been tested. The David Suzuki Foundation expressed harsh criticism of the new Clean Air Act, saying that it will actually lead to increased pollution. The Foundation's found that the Act lacks meaningful targets, sets most timelines in the distant future, and focuses on emissions intensity - all of which guarantee rising pollution levels in Canada. View the October 19, 2006 Toronto Star article View another October 19, 2006 Canadian Press article on Canada.com View the October 19, 2006 Canadian Press article in the Winnipeg Free Press View the October 19, 2006 David Suzuki Foundation press release View the October 19, 2006 CBC article View the October 19, 2006 Canadian Environmental Protection Act Notice of Intent to Develop and Implement Regulations and Other Measures to Reduce Air Emissions Sources: Canadian Press, David Suzuki Foundation, CBC |
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