Al Gore says Tories' green plan a 'fraud'

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/...

~~~

"Former U.S. vice-president blasts Conservative environmental platform as 'complete and total fraud designed to mislead the Canadian public.'

Canadian Press

April 28, 2007 at 12:25 PM EDT

TORONTO — The Conservatives' new environmental platform is a “complete and total fraud” that is “designed to mislead the Canadian people,” former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said Saturday."

...

Mr. Gore praised Mr. Suzuki for confronting Environment Minister John Baird on Friday, saying he saw the two exchange words on TV.

When Mr. Baird told Mr. Suzuki the Conservatives were going further than any other government in Canadian history, Mr. Suzuki said it wasn't enough.

The Conservative government strategy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. But the plan failed to spell out precisely what many of its regulations will look like.

“In my opinion, it is a complete and total fraud,” Mr. Gore said. “It is designed to mislead the Canadian people.”

Mr. Gore acknowledged he is not a Canadian citizen and said he has “no right to interfere in your decisions.”

However, he said, the rest of the world looks to Canada for moral leadership, and that's why this week's announcement was so “shocking.”

~~~

Well its about time someone steps up to the plate and says so. The Canadian Cons have been anti-environment for decades on end and all of a sudden they try to pull the wool over our eyes. I'm not surprised. Worse is the Minister 'responsible' for the Environment, john baird, a radical nutjob who continuously blames the opposition and has no reason to be in the position he is.

Its all about the money for the Cons, business comes first, always has, always will. I am ashamed of what has happened to my country's image as a leading edge nation that understands and deals with our earthly issues.

The condescending Baird is a dim bulb and way over his head. His and his party's latest slipups on environmental issues and news that his government has supported detainee torture in Afghanistan has seen them fall in support across Canada.

Hopefully Stephane Dion and the Liberal party can muster up the energy and intelligence from their new group of candidates and put Canada back on the appropriate track.

•  "the world looks to Canada for moral leadership"

  It is a shame that the world does not look to the United States AND Canada for moral leadership, however, our country was having some trouble in this area before Mr Bush assumed office and he destroyed our moral compass by dropping it in a barrel of ME oil.

  by alasmoses on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:08:48 PM PDT

•  Al Gore is doing great things.

  I really hope he wins a Nobel Prize.  Climate change is a world wide phenomena and he is a world activist now.

  by TomP on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:12:18 PM PDT

  •  Speaking of climate change

    There are thunderstorms building here in Tucson in April.

    It should be dry as a bone now with no rain or even humidity until the end of June or the beginning of July.

    Some of the models predict a major switch here to a sub-tropical/tropical climate while others show even more desert.

    Last winter not a drop of rain here very wierd.

    Then a wet monsoon and a fairly wet winter just past and now Thunderstorms in the desert in April.

    Strange goings on here.

    by buddabelly on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:21:01 PM PDT

  •  Gore is a world leader

    in addition to being and advocate/activist on global warming. He can be THE world leader by running for President and winning.

    by NeuvoLiberal on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:33:38 PM PDT

    •  while I think he'd make a good President

      he might actually be more useful in stopping global warming if he stays at his day job, head of an environmental venture capital fund.

      VCs who actually know something about the fields they invest in are unusual. VCs who invest in environmental technology who actually know something about the environment?

      Gore's probably the only one.

      This is especially important because the technologies most likely to improve things in the timeframe we need are in general, in early commercialization stages.

      If we don't get stuff into at early deployment or later stages in the next decade, we're basically screwed.

      by alizard on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 03:57:04 PM PDT

•  Climate change is here to stay, it's not a

  visitor. Kudos to Gore. Again.

  by Asinus Asinum Fricat on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:16:12 PM PDT

•  Hopefully Stephane Dion and the Liberal party

  will find someone with half Suzuki's energy and commitment for environment minister. He's been on fire lately. So much for that retirement thing.

  by melvin on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:19:01 PM PDT

•  Kudos to Suzuki...

   I love him he has been doing first rate and accessible science programming for years.

   Yeah, Tories and "green" I can't even put those in the same sentence without needing the heimlich maneuver.

  by undercovercalico on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:20:29 PM PDT

  •  a couple links to David Suzuki

    http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/...

    ~~~

    Suzuki leans left but he has never really said if he is (more) Liberal, NDP or Green. I agree with melvin above that he should be given (at a minimum) a  consulting role with the Libs. Canadians admire the man and he could tilt the scales of power in Dion's favour. FWIW the NDP under Jack Layton have been very disappointing.

    by moeman on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:31:00 PM PDT

    •  Not all Canadians admire him....

      I rather lost my taste for him after hearing him say on the radio that the carrying capacity of the world for human population was only two or three million -- and then he started to giggle.

      Raving egomaniac too, according to friends who've (tried) to work with him, but I suppose you could say that about virtually anybody in public life.

      by sagesource on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:38:54 PM PDT

      •  whoops....

        Should have typed two or three HUNDRED million.

        Still, there was something about what was presumably going to happen to the rest of us that he found somehow amusing.

        by sagesource on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:45:04 PM PDT

•  Hard to believe

  they threw Rona Ambrose under the bus, only to replace her with John "Cheeseburger Picnic" Baird.  

  by fiddlingnero on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:29:01 PM PDT

•  The Conservatives and especially

  Stephen Harper do not see their green plan as a way to improve the climate, but as a way to win votes.  Period.  Their record on the environment is one of fighting every single effort to make postive change.

  by CanadianBill on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 12:36:29 PM PDT

•  I agree with you CanadaBill

  Right now, in Canada, the environment is one of the top issues on people's mind. The Tories were seriously lacking on that departement even though they are doing well in the polls, enough to get elected again.

  They are trying to fool people with their environment plan PR campaign. They sound EXACTLY like the Republicans with their "Clear Skies Initiative" crap. Same smoke screens, same devious methods to influence public opinion.

  I for one welcome and respect Gore's input even though he is not Canadian, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. His intervention will help debunk this PR stunt.

  by Digbyzzz on Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 01:04:54 PM PDT

•  chicken little

  Conservative Environment Minister John Baird promptly shot back, saying Gore didn't do nearly as much to fight climate change during eight years in office.

  "The fact is our plan is vastly tougher than any measures introduced by the administration of which the former vice-president was a member," Baird said in news release.

  by moeman on Sun Apr 29, 2007 at 04:27:18 AM PDT

  •  full text, what a wuss

    With respect to the comments of former United States vice-president Al Gore, the Honourable John Baird, the Minister of the Environment, made the following statement:

    "Former vice-president Al Gore deserves acknowledgement for the success of his film in highlighting the huge ecological challenge of climate change. It is regrettable, however, that the former vice-president has criticized Canada's recently released action plan to cut greenhouse gases and air pollution.

    "It is difficult to accept criticism from someone who preaches about climate change, but who never submitted the Kyoto Protocol to a vote in the United States Senate, who never did as much as Canada is now doing to fight climate change during eight years in office, and who has campaigned exclusively for hundreds of Democratic candidates who have weaker plans to fight greenhouse gases than Canada's New Government.

    "It is equally regrettable that the former U.S. vice-president decided to speak out without ever having been briefed on the contents of our plan. The fact is our plan is vastly tougher than any measures introduced by the Administration of which the former vice-president was a member.

    "I am ready to meet with Mr. Gore at any time to discuss the climate change threat and our government's tough plan to reduce Canada's emissions."

    by moeman on Sun Apr 29, 2007 at 04:33:13 AM PDT