Doer Retreats: pushes green deadline back to 2020
Winnipeg Free Press August 22, 2007
Manitoba has a new plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions along with six U.S. states and British Columbia. Premier Gary Doer said today the province has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent below 2005 levels before 2020.
It means a cut of more than three megatonnes of greenhouse gas annually.
Previously Manitoba had committed to meeting the requirements of the Kyoto Accord, which was to get emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.
“It’s similar to but not the same as Kyoto,” Doer said.
The new plan cuts the amount Manitoba would have had to reduce by about half a megatonne and pushes back the deadline by eight years.
The same commitment was made by the other members of the Western Climate Initiative - Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and British Columbia. Getting this province coal-free by 2012 and capturing methane gas from all landfills will form part of Manitoba’s reduction strategy but the main cuts Doer wants to come from more efficient cars.
Cars and trucks account for one-quarter of Manitoba’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, a little over five megatonnes in total. One typical family car emits five tonnes of carbon dioxide in a one-year period.
Because most of Manitoba’s homes and businesses are powered by the more climate friendly hydroelectricity, transportation makes up a larger percentage of our emissions than elsewhere.
Doer is advocating for a national vehicle emissions standard, similar to the one California has in place. The provinces failed to agree on that at a recent premiers’ meeting in New Brunswick but Doer said today there are reasons to believe it is happening anyway.
He said the more states and provinces which move in that direction, the more reasons the auto industry has to make more efficient cars. He said right now the industry is moving at a fast pace but he said soon it will be at an “urgent” pace.