Canada can’t keep waiting for U.S. to lead says policy analyst
Political upheaval south of the border is no excuse for Alberta and Ottawa to wait for U.S. lawmakers to take action on climate change says an environmental policy analyst.
Riding a wave of voter frustration and anger Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democrats retained power in the Senate during the recent mid-term elections.
While the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have been working on comprehensive cap-and-trade legislation “it is highly unlikely that the U.S. will have any comprehensive climate legislation in the U.S. for the next two years” says Danielle Droitsch director of U.S. policy for the Pembina Institute.
And that she says doesn’t bode well for Canada which is increasingly being frowned upon internationally because of Ottawa’s steadfast refusal to implement its own climate change policies without the U.S. moving ahead first.
“Canadians want to see Canada as a sovereign nation take meaningful action on climate change now” she says. “We need to make deep reductions on greenhouse gases to really combat this issue.”
U.S. lawmakers who are concerned about the environmental impact of Alberta’s oilsands are not being swayed by the province’s public relations campaign in Washington says Droitsch. “With some they are losing their credibility entirely” she adds.
