Gore Calls out Canada on Their Climate Plan

During a speech on Saturday in Toronto, Al Gore called Canada's plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions a 'sham' that gives industries a way to increase, and not decrease, these emissions.

Canada announced on Thursday a plan that would cut the countries greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. This 20 percent decrease in greenhouse gases would be done by the year 2020. However, the Canadian government also said they would miss their Kyoto Protocol obligations that call for 35 industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Currently, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are 30 percent above 1990 levels.

The plan of the conservative government was to reduce emissions that are directly blamed for global warming. The Canadian government was also looking to reduce emissions that would improve air quality, but this plan never really spelled out what type of regulation would be put in place to make sure this plan would be followed.

In his speech on Saturday, Al Gore said this plan by the Canadian government was a 'total fraud' because the plan did not state directly how Canada would reach it 20 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction goal by 2020. Mr. Gore went on to say this plan was designed only to fool the people into thinking the Canadian government was planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He said "intensity reduction" — which allow industries to increase their greenhouse gas outputs as they raise production — was a poll-tested phrase developed by think tanks financed by Exxon Mobil and other large polluters.

Canadian Environment Minister John Baird went on to blast this criticism from Gore by stating the current Canadian government's plan is tougher than any plan that was under consideration when Al Gore was Vice-President of the United States. Mr. Baird also went to state that he would like to invite Al Gore to a discussion about Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Gore was in Toronto on Saturday to present his award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," in front of a consumer environmental show.

During the showing of this film, Mr. Gore said the United States has no right to interfere with Canada's greenhouse gas emission plan; however, Mr. Gore went on to say the world looks to Canada for 'moral' leadership on this issue. This is why Mr. Gore found the announcement by the Canadian government on Thursday about their plan for greenhouse gas emissions as 'shocking'.

On Sunday, Stephane Dion, Canadian opposition Liberal Leader, came out and said he agrees with the statements made by Mr. Gore. Mr. Dion went on to say that Mr. Baird was embarrassing Canada with this plan because the world looks for Canada to do their part in reducing greenhouse gases.

Mr. Dion concluded by saying Canada is failing the world by not showing leadership on this issue, and that the current Canadian government is also failing the Canadian people.

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