Can Canada Liberals Win Election on Green Issues?
Date: 08-Dec-06 Country: CANADA Author: David Ljunggren The latest thinking, the key platform of new Liberal leader Stephane Dion, taps into a groundswell of voter concern about global warming and environmental issues. But it’s not clear if Canadians are really ready to go green or if Dion can win an election by focusing on the environment, especially after he explains to voters how much extra his plans could cost. Dion won the Liberal leadership on Saturday after persuading fellow Liberals that Canada must improve its sorry performance on the environment. Canadian greenhouse gas emissions are already 35 percent above the target set under the Kyoto protocol on climate change, and critics say that is partly due to inaction under the Liberals’ own watch — the party was in government from 1993 to 2006. The Conservative government says Canada cannot meet its Kyoto obligations, which say Canada must cut greenhouse gas emissions by six percent of 1990 levels by 2012, and Conservative legisl
