Canada’s bid to cut greenhouse gases flawed: probe

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Two of Canada’s major strategies for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases have major flaws and cannot achieve the promised results, the country’s environmental watchdog said on Thursday.

The report by Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan promises to be a fresh headache for Canada’s minority Conservative government, which critics say is only paying lip service to green causes.

“The government cannot demonstrate that the money it is spending on some important environmental programs is making a difference,” Vaughan said at a news conference.

Soon after winning power in early 2006, the Conservatives walked away from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, saying the cuts it required would harm the economy.

The Environment Department has since produced a less stringent plan that it says will reduce emissions by 50 percent from 2007 levels by 2050. One element of the plan is a C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion) clean air trust fund that is designed to cut emissions by 16 megatons a year from 2008 to 2012.

Reuters