Suddenly, Harper Sees Climate Breakdown As "Perhaps Biggest Threat" Facing Humanity

[hatrack]

Oh, yeah, but he has a summit meeting to go and look concerned at - I almost forgot!

:silly:

EDIT

In today's speech, Harper said his government found it was impossible to meet Canada's Kyoto targets without "crippling our economy." He blamed the situation on lack of action by the former Liberal government.

But Harper is seeking to position himself in advance of the G8 meeting as a leader who is as committed to reducing CO2 pollution as his European counterparts, many of whom have made climate change a high priority.

Harper's said his government's green plan is consistent with the tough targets envisioned by European leaders in the post-2012 period. "In the long run, I believe Chancellor Merkel and I are on the same page, on this point at least: all countries must embrace ambitious absolute reduction targets" so that the goal of cutting global emissions in half by 2050 – as proposed by Merkel – can be met, Harper said.

The Harper government's green plan calls for a 20-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, and a long-term target of 60-70 per cent by 2050. Environmentalists have panned the program as inadequate and questioned whether it will be effective.

EDIT

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/221291