The Harper government’s continued foot-dragging in the Copenhagen climate talks is more than just an international embarrassment, Liberal MPs said today – it threatens our country’s economic prosperity as we continue to lag behind our global competitors.
“Minister Prentice is at Copenhagen, reaping what he has sown and Canada’s economy will pay the price in the long run,” said Liberal Environment and Energy Critic David McGuinty.
Mr. McGuinty’s comments come after a day of public relations disasters for the Harper government, including a hastily-denied spoof emission reduction news release, a bust-up between respected Canadian environmentalist Steven Guilbeault and Stephen Harper’s press secretary, a photo-op snub from the United States Secretary of Energy, and a growing pile of ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards.
“While Minister Prentice has made Canada a laughing stock in Copenhagen, businesses and industries are still waiting for clear direction or certainty from the Harper government before investing in clean energy technologies,” said Liberal Industry Critic Marc Garneau. “The future of Canada’s economic prosperity is in limbo right now and will continue to suffer, as we fall behind other major markets.”
According to recent reports on clean energy investments, the U.S. is spending 14 times more per capita on renewable energy than Canada. Nearly two million jobs – four times the jobs within the oil industry – could be created in the U.S. in the next two years through investments in clean energy solutions, rapid transit and energy efficiency.
The Renewable Energy Investment Attractiveness Index puts the U.S., Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and even India and China ahead of Canada in terms of our investment attractiveness for renewable energy.
“The U.S., Western Europe, China and India can see beyond the fossil fuel era – and are investing in renewable energy for its economic benefits,” said Mr. McGuinty. “The Harper government claims they have Canada’s best economic interests in mind, but their inaction is costing Canadians the competitive advantage of being a leader in clean technology.”
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a historic investment in clean energy and energy efficiency jobs with an ambitious target of quadrupling Canada’s production of renewable energy from sources like wind and solar by 2017.
Liberals have committed to ambitious carbon pollution reductions in line with other developed countries and have proposed a verifiable and binding cap-and-trade system that would be equitable to all regions and cover all industries, with hard caps leading to absolute reductions with the goal of containing global warming to within two degrees Celsius.
