Countries that are acting now on clean technologies and greater environmental responsibility are getting ahead to secure the jobs of tomorrow. Across the board, clean resources and stewardship of nature will drive and define prosperity in the successful societies of the future.

Many in our private sector, civil society and provincial and municipal governments are leading the way already.

The Harper government has embarrassed Canada on the international stage by obstructing progress on climate change. In fact, Stephen Harper was openly skeptical of the science behind climate change until recently, calling it “a socialist scheme”. Meanwhile, emissions in Canada are increasing, there is still no plan in place, and Canada’s international reputation is in tatters.

On energy policy in particular, the Harper government has been absent, even as entrepreneurs, Canadian provinces, the United States and many other countries make aggressive strides to develop renewable energy and build the low-carbon economy of the future.

A Liberal government will provide the leadership required for a successful transition to the prosperous, cleaner economy of tomorrow, through action in four major areas: becoming a world leader in clean resources, a new Canadian Clean Energy Partnership, action on climate change, and stewardship of our natural environment.

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Decades of experience and investment in hydro-electricity add considerably to the Canadian knowledge base and future opportunities.

As global markets demand ever higher standards of environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and corporate social responsibility, Canada can lead the world. Under a Liberal government we will – by earning a reputation as a global leader in clean resources. That means both exporting resource-based products produced with the lowest possible impact, and supplying knowledge, technology and expertise to other markets for responsible management, development and consumption of natural resources.

That’s why clean resources are one of three “Canadian Champion Sectors” at the heart of a Liberal government’s approach to innovation, including new tax incentives for innovative start-ups. Clean resources can be an engine of innovation and entrepreneurialism, driving Canadian success in global commerce while also advancing the transition to the low carbon, high efficiency economy of tomorrow.

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Different provinces have different energy mixes, and both exports and imports of various energy products play major roles in provincial economies. At the same time, there are also common issues, shared challenges, and tremendous opportunities. A pan-Canadian process for collaboration on those shared challenges is essential for the long-term transition to the clean, energy-efficient economy of the future.

A Liberal government will launch the Canadian Clean Energy Partnership, inviting provincial and territorial governments, the private sector and stakeholders to work together on five Canada-wide objectives:

• Managing a long-term transition to the low-carbon economy of the future;
• Helping families advance energy efficiency and conservation;
• Encouraging Canadian businesses to become more competitive through energy efficiency;
• Securing clean technology jobs in Canada;
• Doing our part in the global fight against climate change.

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In the United States, the Obama Administration is spending twice as much as Canada per capita on energy efficiency measures, and 18 times more per capita on clean technology. The Harper government has allowed billions in clean energy programming to expire. In its failed election budget, the Harper government temporarily extended the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program for just one year.

A Liberal government will implement a new $400 million Green Renovation Tax Credit targeting home renovations that save families money and bring environmental benefits. Canadians who make energy efficient changes to their homes (such as installing new windows, doors and roofing) will be able to claim a tax credit of up to $13,500. A Liberal government will also cover 50 percent of the cost of the home energy audit required in advance of the renovation. This permanent, refundable tax credit will be simpler and lest costly to administer than the temporary grant program, more generous for many types of projects, and will foster the growth of energy efficiency small businesses.

Canadian families want to contribute to a healthy environment and the fight against climate change. They deserve a government that will help them act on good ideas.

Homeowners who have performed energy efficiency retrofits save an average of $500 on their annual energy costs. That’s an ongoing boost every year for both family finances and the environment through energy efficiency. We’ll stand with Canadian families and help with the up-front investment for green renovations on more than 1 million homes by 2017.

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To help meet this goal, we will bring back the Renewable Power Production Incentive (RPPI), a highly successful program cancelled by the Harper Conservatives. It will provide an incentive to renewable power entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of near market-ready renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, tidal and biomass. In combination with existing provincial initiatives, and a Canadian plan to tackle climate change, outlined later in this chapter, an investment of $1 billion in RPPI over the coming years will increase Canada’s renewable energy mix to 10 percent of our total electricity output by 2017.

Renewable energy should have a growing position in Canada’s energy mix, and a Liberal government will help achieve it. Canada must move forward on all fronts – advancing renewables, while also lowering the carbon and environmental footprints of continued fossil fuel development and consumption.

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As part of the Canadian Clean Energy Partnership, a Liberal government will work to:

• Accelerate development and deployment of technologies that will reduce all environmental impacts, including the carbon footprint, of oil sands development, with a goal of eliminating the 15 percent differential compared to conventional oil;
• Increase the rigour with which the federal government exercises its regulatory responsibilities relevant to oil sands development; and
• Improve the knowledge base necessary for responsible regulation by increasing investment in science and monitoring relevant to oil sands development.

The basic objective of these measures, of course, is cleaner oil sands development, and “more orderly development”, as former Alberta Premier, Peter Lougheed has advocated. The industry is addressing the problem of how it is perceived in the United States and overseas. This problem is also Canada’s. Accelerating improvement in the industry’s environmental performance is the best strategy for improving its image. That progress will also contribute to Canada’s efforts to combat climate change, and effective stewardship of our water, land and wildlife.

In support of cleaner oil sands development, a Liberal government will immediately end a generous tax break for the industry. The Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for oil sands investments is being phased out slowly by the Harper government, by 2015. Acting more decisively will yield nearly $500 million in government revenue over the next two years. We will earmark these funds for two purposes: new or improved incentives for industry investments in emerging technologies that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of oil sands development; and we’ll invest in monitoring and scientific research on environmental impacts of oil sands development, in pursuit of knowledge that will inform the exercise of federal regulatory responsibilities.

The Harper government made a commitment to “phase out and rationalize” fossil fuel subsidies, along with the other members of the G20, at its Leaders’ Summit in Pittsburgh in 2009. However no action has been taken in Canada, and the initiative was not even mentioned in the final communiqué of the subsequent G20 summit, chaired by Stephen Harper in June 2010. A Liberal government will take this international obligation seriously in its balanced approach to clean energy.

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A Liberal government will establish a cap-and-trade system – a mechanism that sets a ceiling on the total amount of permissible greenhouse gas emissions by large industrial facilities, and then auctions off emission permits to companies who can trade them amongst themselves to remain compliant under the law.

A cap-and-trade system already operates in Europe. Here in Canada, leading provinces including British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec – frustrated with the inaction of the Harper government – are working with American states to implement a North American cap-and-trade system by 2015 under the framework of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI).

Working with the provinces, a Liberal government will develop a system that applies to all sectors of the economy with no exceptions, and which will be equitable across all regions of the country.

Liberals have committed to a long-term greenhouse gas reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. We also urged the Harper government to work for an ambitious global agreement on climate change that would keep the global rise in temperatures below 2^oC. Their embarrassing obstruction at the Copenhagen conference, and invisibility a year later in Cancun made it clear they have no intention to help reach a new global agreement.

We will continue to advance our long-term emission reduction target, and ask the independent advisory body, the National Round Table on Environment and Economy, to recommend a series of science-based, achievable mid-term targets.

Rather than waiting for the U.S. Congress to act, as the Harper government has done, a Liberal government will engage American counterparts in the Administration and Congress proactively on key issues including: carbon pricing, research and development for standards and regulation, clean energy technologies, cooperation on electricity transmission grid development, and transportation. While the Harper government has outsourced Canadian policy to American legislators, a Liberal government will act in the Canadian interest.

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