I am already aware that Canada has not been keeping up with its promises under the Kyoto protocol, which I think is awful. Canada is full of renewable resources and yet we refuse to join other countries and reduce our emissions to protect the overall world environment. Again, I am not an expert, but I believe there are MANY more ways our government can reduce emissions in Canada. Not to mention, we never should have signed such an agreement in the first place if we knew those goals were unattainable.
Arguments have been made that the Liberal government signed the Kyoto protocol—not the Conservatives, therefore, we should not expect the Conservatives to meet goals agreed upon by the Liberals. However, many different political parties have made many agreements/policies in Canada and new governments are obliged to abide by those laws…so why should Kyoto be any different?
While reading the aforementioned article, I came across a quote from a Department of Justice lawyer that states, “The act is one of a number of several ‘unusual’ statutes that Parliament did not expect the courts to enforce.” The government did not expect the courts to enforce a LAW?? Suddenly the excuse “My dog ate my homework” doesn’t seem so absurd…
I am so tired and I am so ashamed of the plethora of excuses politicians have. I hate that our government is able to pick and choose which laws they follow and those they do not. Kyoto was created for a reason. Other countries signed Kyoto for a reason. Canada agreed to Kyoto for a reason. I believe if the politicians spent less time and money in unnecessary court battles, not only could we start mending our tainted national appearance, but we could also reduce our emissions and live in a cleaner and healthier environment. Just my opinion.
Source: “Green group accuses Conservatives of ignoring Kyoto law.” CBC.ca. Associated Press. 18 Jun 08
3 comments:
I can't believe our Canadian government would turn to such a irresponsible government.. it's soooo childish that the Conservatives say they aren't responsible for Kyoto law which was signed by the Liberals.
As far as I know, US didn't sign up from the beginning. If Conservatives act like this, we are no longer different from the old US. What a shame.. but to think of Kyoto law, the Liberals could have recklessly signed the protocol..
My question is, would other countries who signed the protocol accept this? If so, every country will be busy on changing the political power and nothing will be done. I wonder what's going to happen next.
I think there might be a misunderstanding. I think when people say "the Conservatives are not responsible for Kyoto," what they mean is that the Conservative Party is not solely to blame for Canada's failure to meet the Protocol's GHG reduction targets. I am by no means an expert on the environment or on Kyoto but, from what I understand, steps to reduce emissions needed to be taken immediately upon signing the Protocol for Canada to have a realistic chance at living up to its end of the bargain. As I have previously mentioned, the Liberal government that entered into the agreement did nothing to fulfill its Kyoto obligations and, as a result, Canada has fallen short of its targets. This in no way excuses the Conservative government from not taking greater action toward limiting GHG emissions. But, it seems that there is a tendency to idolize the Liberals for signing the protocol and demonize the Conservatives for not living up to it, and I just think we should not excuse the hypocrisy the Liberal Party (until recently) has demonstrated.
Even if you're not an expert on politics, you're an expert on your opinion from the information you have collected. Hopefully that isn't contradictory. By all means there is more than enough evidence that global warming is becoming a significant problem. I totally agree with you, the future is cloudy and not enough people are taking it seriously. Year after year I feel increasingly more disappointed with the government and their decisions to take on important issues. The government shouldn't be acting so immaturely. They should be sitting down and deciding how they can be as direct and honest with this country and make decisions that will benefit Canada and the world for the future.
Shame on the government for wrapping Canadians around their promising fingers!
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