Do you remember the old shaggy dog story about the chief in a village who wanted to have a bigger throne? Much of it escapes me now, but with Speech from the Throne on my mind all week, the punch line came to me “People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones…”
Nor should people in glass house throw stones… which also came to me with every party in the House posturing. Mr. Harper gave several Liberal Throne Speeches and budgets a pass only to attack them later. Mr. Layton had his caucus abstain on a Liberal Throne Speech. But the piñata this week is Mr. Dion and the others are at him with sharp sticks. It looks like this game will continue for some time.
The whole Speech from the Throne was of interest, but the language around Kyoto was so convoluted that I thought it worth explaining here.
If one could magically erase the knowledge that the speech was crafted by a Prime Minister who has consistently sabotaged action on Kyoto, the words on the page themselves were not bad. The speech stated we need a global agreement to resolve a global problem (True. All the Opposition Parties say that agreement exists in Kyoto). The speech said we need hard targets in any agreement for the period after 2012. (True, this is what is being negotiated through the United Nations now for the second phase of Kyoto, but Canada’s been against it arguing for fraudulent “intensity-based” targets.) The speech said we need 20% reductions in Greenhouse gases by 2020. (True, but the speech left out the all-important base year. The European Union is committed to 20% reductions below 1990 levels by 2020. So far Mr. Harper has only committed to 20% below 2006 levels (24% higher than they were in 1990!).
The biggest confusion will likely come from saying we can no longer reach Kyoto targets. This is sadly, tragically, true. It is the reality of having lost too much time to get our emissions to 6% below 1990 levels between 2008-2012. It is, however, not the same as saying we abandon Kyoto. The protocol anticipated some countries might miss their target. There are penalties in the next phase. So we must truly begin the effort to reduce emissions, get as close as we can to the target and be prepared for deeper carbon cuts in the next round of global agreements within Kyoto.
The numbers and base years and percentages are not mere political posturing. Unlike the hot air emitted in the House of Commons, what is happening in the atmosphere has real irreversible and dangerous implications. We are up against critical limits to how much carbon can be emitted before we hit tipping points causing a global abrupt and catastrophic climate shift.
We no longer have time for political games. We have to move decisively to protect our children’s future.
Elizabeth May, O.C., is the Leader of the Green Party of Canada.