Canada's climate change problem can be solved. To do so, we must first realize that climate change, and the ways we develop, produce and use energy are inextricably linked because of the impact on our atmosphere of carbon dioxide - the waste product of fossil fuels.

Because climate change is real, it is absolutely essential for Canada to aggressively deal with the issue of greenhouse gases on all levels. The federal government must take responsibility for Canada's growing environmental dilemma by expediting the development and implementation of an environmentally sound energy strategy. Canada must balance the demands of a booming energy sector, with the need to protect and ensure the sustainability of our natural resources and the environment.
Our Liberal government allocated $10 billion to global warming programs through Project Green. Initial investments were made in a wide variety of measures. While critics have pointed out, accurately, that Canada's total Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose 26.5 per cent between 1990 and 2004, the other important fact to note is that only 4.4 per cent of that rise occurred between 2000 and 2004 - a period during which economic growth exceeded 9.6 per cent. The Liberal plan effectively slammed the brakes on runaway GHG emissions.
Now we need a plan to move the car in reverse. A strong collaborative effort from large emitters, major industries, private residences, and public and personal transportation will be necessary to collectively reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions levels. Incentives to various sectors, such as our Liberal government's EnerGuide for Houses Retrofit Incentive program, cut by the Conservative government despite its popularity and success, are one important way forward.
Any commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must also be accompanied by a realistic evaluation of the options available to make change possible. One area of major concern is the increase in oil sands development in Alberta - predicted to triple by 2020. Currently, oil sands production is responsible for about three per cent of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions, but it could account for up to 30 per cent of our GHGs as development increases.

Aside from greenhouse gases, oil sands production is having a dramatic negative impact on the surrounding environment and communities. Fort McMurray, for example, is facing a major crisis as it struggles to keep up with the demands of increased development activity. The residents of that community are facing rampant inflation, over-crowding, and many related social problems. As well, the current common method of bitumen extraction from the oil sands, steam assisted gravity drainage, involves an inefficient use of fresh water from the Athabasca River. Up to five barrels of fresh water are needed to produce one barrel of bitumen. Only about 10 per cent of the water taken from the Athabasca is recycled back into the river. The remaining contaminated water is put into tailings, a mixture of bitumen, sand, water, silt, and clay particles, which pose additional threats to wildlife and any other nearby water sources, including the Athabasca River. Fresh water use isn't the only concern - there is also the problem of the inefficient use of natural gas in the extraction process, which requires roughly 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas to extract one barrel of bitumen, enough natural gas to heat an average Canadian home for about five and a half days.

Greenhouse gas emissions, the inefficient use of natural gas and the exorbitant use of fresh water in the oil sands development do not represent a reasonable balance between the need to develop Canada's natural resources and the need to protect our environment. More research and the use of new technologies must be part of the solution.

Of particular interest are new developments in the areas of water recycling and carbon capture and sequestration. Suncor Energy, for example, reduced its water withdrawal intensity per unit of production by more than 30 per cent between 2000 and 2004. This is a good start; however a commitment from other energy producing companies, the Canadian government, and private research and technology institutes must be made in order to adequately address the issue of fresh water resources.

Likewise, new technologies do exist to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon capture and sequestration are very promising agents in the fight against climate change, although no economically feasible process that can be deployed on a large scale has yet been developed. The federal government can help, and should. Currently about $1.2 billion dollars in federal tax expenditures are provided to Canadian energy producers each year. A shift in the focus of these expenditures to accelerate the development and deployment of water recycling and CO2 capture and sequestration technologies in the oil sands would be an important step in the right direction.

All of the progress that has been made, as well as the efforts to sustain this progress in to the future, demands government action. So far, sadly, the Conservative government has shown little sign of understanding this important fact. And that is to the detriment of all of us.