By Celsias
Posted on Aug. 13, 2012. Listed in:
Canada is not going to come anywhere near its 2020 target for reducing greenhouse gases, given rising emissions because of the tar sands of northern Alberta, government officials have warned.
Canada is the biggest single supplier of oil and gas to the United States, and it has said it will cut GHG output by 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. This was a goal that was much easier to achieve than the previous goals it abandoned last year as part of its dirty tarsand push
New figures released last week however show that Canada is half way to meeting its own target.But that it will not make it by a country mile. Emissions will rise steadily - and massively - from now until 2020 unless more action is taken.
The government figures showed emissions from the oil sands would rise 226 percent between 2005 and 2020, accounting for more than 17 percent of all projected greenhouse gas output in 2020 assuming Canada meets its target.
The opposition Liberal party said the figures were "a joke" and noted they had been revised
to show emissions in 2010 were significantly lower than previously estimated.
"This is nothing more than a shell game. The government has changed the accounting rules in order to declare success," said Kirsty Duncan, the Liberal Party's spokeswoman on the environment.
In May, Parliament's environmental watchdog said Canada was acting too slowly to combat climate change and had little chance of achieving its 2020 target. Seems they were right on!
