RELEASE
For Release: Immediate
May 23, 2006
Liberal Party Accuses Harper of Hiding True Plans for
Kyoto
Ottawa - Environment Minister Rona Ambrose is trying to
use a non-existent ethanol announcement to distract Canadians from her
plans to derail Kyoto talks, Liberal Party Natural Resources Critic Roy
Cullen said today.
"The Environment Minister's failure to deliver her
promised announcement regarding increased ethanol use in Canada is an
overt attempt to detract from the fact that this government is not serious
about fighting global warming or meeting Canada's Kyoto commitments,"
said Cullen.
Throughout the weekend the Conservative government made
it clear that they were going to be making a major announcement about
the expansion of Ethanol use in Canada. However, after meeting with her
provincial counterparts the Minister of the Environment had no announcement
to make and could only say that she and her counterparts would work on
a framework over the summer.
"Given the fact that until today's meeting with provincial
ministers we were expecting an announcement and now we don't have one,
it is obvious that the government's plans to expand ethanol production
in Canada are failing, right along side all of this government's environmental
failures," said Cullen.
The Liberal government made significant direct investments
in the expansion of ethanol production in Canada. It invested $118 million
in 11 projects across the country. These projects helped create new markets
for Canadian farmers, diversifying Canadian farming and injecting new
vitality into rural economies. The government also committed itself to
increasing the ethanol content in gasoline to 10 per cent in at least
35 per cent of all gasoline sold in Canada by 2010.
"Increasing the use of ethanol may be a way to boost
the use of renewable fuels and stimulate rural economies, but, as a stand
alone measure, it will not have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions," Cullen noted.
"The Harper government has still yet to put one penny
into any projects that will actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
this country. There have been no negotiations with industry on how to
fight global warming, and they're undermining the Kyoto protocol while
advocating for voluntary targets and less enforcement for its next round,"
said Cullen.
"They are fundamentally dismantling all of Canada's
efforts to fight global warming," he added.
In 2004 the previous Liberal government invested $72 million
in 2004 to get six ethanol plant projects up and running. Last year, we
invested over $45 million in four new ethanol production plants and the
expansion of another in Alberta. The vague commitment to a 5 percent ethanol
standard offers nothing toward expanding Canada's ethanol production capacity,
nor does it increase the 10 per cent target set last year by the previous
government.
"What makes this all the more astounding is that the government is
attempting to suggest that they are the champions of the use of ethanol
and that we should be celebrating their commitment. In fact they are years
behind what the Liberal Party has promised," said Cullen.
"They aren't even making real investments. Just like
every announcement this government has made, they are offering a tax incentive
for someone else to do the work. That's not leadership, and that's not
an investment in our environment."
For more information, please contact:
David Cuddemi, Executive Assistant
Room 317, West Block
613-995-4702
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