Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Harper’s Intensity based Emissions world model.


Stephen Harper: “Improvements in emissions intensity of this magnitude mean that there will be real, absolute reductions in emissions levels by at least 2012 and as early as 2010. It will put us on track to absolute greenhouse gas reductions of 20% by 2020.”


Stephen Harper: “The approach we have chosen, basing emissions reduction targets on units of production in the short run, allows growing and developing economies to engage in significant greenhouse gas reductions without putting themselves at immediate risk.”


Stephen Harper “There are elements of our plan that we believe could work not just for Canada, but for many countries in the world – including some of the large emitters that did not accept targets under the Kyoto protocol,”
http://www.conservative.ca/EN/1004/80760


Harper's claim that his intensity based plan could serve as a model for others is simply laughable. Intensity of emissions has been going down on their own and have been doing for a while and during this time GHG emissions have gone up 25%. Indeed, since 1996 intensity has gone down an average of 2% every year. If you simply extend that line out over the next thirteen years, Canada will have reduced intensity by 26%. Of course there is plenty of reasons to believe that intensity will fall at an even quicker rate meaning that the Conservatives will likely not have to lift a finger to achieve a 33% drop in intensity by 2020 and there is no reason at all think that an decrease in emissions intensity will lead to an absolute reductions in GHG.

http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/inventory_report/2005/images/fig2_e.gif

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here is an excerpt from a Globe and Mail article that I came across:

“The previous Liberal government promised to set intensity-based targets for individual facilities”.

Are they making that up or were the Liberals in favor of intensity-based emissions?

http://www.ieta.org/ieta/www/pages/index.php?IdSiteTree=1373

Koby said...

Let us review. Conservatives blame the Liberals for not meeting the Kyoto targets that the Conservatives do not believe in the first place. They promise make a complete break from the past, but give us more of what the Liberals gave us.