Ottawa gets tough on emissions

BILL CURRY
From Friday's Globe and Mail


OTTAWA — The Conservative government will force the automotive sector to comply with tough mandatory vehicle-emission requirements, using California's stringent standards as its model.

The plan to reduce these emissions will take effect in 2010, when the current voluntary deal signed last year by the Liberals expires.

The cabinet approved the broad outlines last week of Green Plan Two, which will lay out plans to regulate limits on a host of pollutants where only voluntary targets currently exist, sources say.

The Harper government will focus its environmental policy on fighting smog and improving air quality, with less emphasis on reducing greenhouse gases -- largely carbon emissions -- that are at the heart of the Kyoto accord.

The Globe and Mail

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose hinted at the new measures on vehicle emissions in the House of Commons yesterday, saying she is looking at matching the mandatory emissions rules found in some U.S. states.

"We are . . . engaging the eight United States on their [Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative] climate-change system, and we are in talks with California about its new legislation," Ms. Ambrose said.

Sources later confirmed details of Green Plan Two.

California has the most stringent vehicle-emission rules in North America and eight northeastern states operating as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, including New York and New Jersey, have indicated they will follow California's lead. However, California and the auto sector are now in a bitter legal battle over the environmental rules.

The previous Liberal government opted for a five-year voluntary deal with Canada's auto sector last April after much internal debate and intense lobbying by the sector.

The original Green Plan was the environmental package of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government.

Mark Nantais, the president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, said he had heard the Harper government was heading in this direction but has not received official confirmation.

Mr. Nantais said current and previous voluntary deals have worked well and the targets have been met.

"We've got a proven track record on voluntary fuel efficiency," he said.

Mandatory rules will add red tape and ultimately increase costs for Canadian consumers at little or no benefit to the environment, Mr. Nantais said.

"You're imposing huge costs on consumers for virtually no return," he said.

If new cars become more expensive, Canadians will drive older, less fuel-efficient cars longer, thereby worsening environmental problems, he predicted.

Canada's voluntary deal calls on auto makers to cut 5.3 megatonnes in annual greenhouse-gas emissions by 2010.

Johanne Whitmore, a climate-change policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, said she is skeptical of the existing Canadian plan because of its voluntary nature and because it allows car companies to reduce greenhouse gases in ways other than fuel efficiency, such as using tire-pressure monitors.

"We can't take the Canadian [voluntary deal] seriously," she said. Ms. Whitmore said she would welcome mandatory rules but that the 2010 target was "too far away."

Using data from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Ms. Whitmore said the best-case scenario for Canada's voluntary deal would see fuel efficiency improve to seven litres per 100 kilometres, from nine when the deal was signed. California's mandatory rules call for fuel efficiency to improve from nine litres per 100 km in 2010 to seven litres per 100 km by 2012.

Even though the government is expected to announce its environmental plan soon, sources say the cabinet has yet to make a final decision on a central question: Namely, how it will address carbon dioxide emissions from the energy and oil and gas sectors.

The most likely scenario currently on the table is that a new Clean Air Act will signal an intent to regulate a host of pollutants, but the time needed to consult industry and the provinces, as well as to pass the act through the Commons and Senate, will likely mean most of the new pollution limits won't take effect for at least two years -- and 2010 for the regulations affecting the auto makers.

Some expressed concern yesterday that the government's tough talk will be diluted by far-off timelines that delay action on climate change. Liberal environment critic John Godfrey held a news conference yesterday urging the Tories to regulate immediately using the existing Canadian Environmental Protection Act, rather than delay the process with new legislation.

"It would mean, in practical terms, further delay," said Mr. Godfrey of the proposed Clean Air Act.