Page A13 of tomorrow’s Washington Post will contain an article by their man in Canada, Doug Struck, headlined: “In Reversal, Canada's Conservatives Embrace Environmental Concerns”.
Here’s some selected grafs:
TORONTO, Jan. 21 — Canada's Conservative Party government, faced with a strong public demand for action on climate change, is scrambling to rebuild environmental programs that it dismantled last year and offer new initiatives.
Two ministers for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government on Sunday announced the allocation of $26 million previously pledged to help preserve the giant Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia and unveiled a program to encourage homeowners and businesses to make their buildings more energy efficient.…
Harper's government is trying to show its resolve on global warming after the opposition Liberal Party elected a leader, Stéphane Dion, who pledged to make global warming the top issue, a stance that a majority of Canadians agree with, according to opinion polls.
Harper fired his environmental minister this month and offered plans last week to boost alternative energy sources and conservation. But many of the programs were simply different versions of those advanced by the previous Liberal government and scrapped during the elimination of many Liberal programs when Harper presented his budget last spring.
“Why did we have to wait a year until Stephen Harper has his back against the political wall until we get old copycat versions of Liberal programs?” Dave Martin, an energy analyst with Greenpeace Canada, said in an interview. “Despite the greenwashing, it's not clear to me that Stephen Harper really intends to take strong action on climate change.” …
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