Thread by @DanWoy

Re: CPC ‘real’ climate plan (tl/dr spoiler: it’s not). Here’s @cleanenergycan take:
It fails to live up to its billing as a comprehensive plan—in fact, it’s not really a plan at all.
We’re left wondering:
How much pollution would it cut? 1/ #cdnpoli #climatechange

@cleanenergycan How close would it take us toward our pollution reduction target?
How much would it cost?
In short, it fails to provide Canadians with a clear apples-to-apples comparison.
2/

@cleanenergycan The Conservative document is built on three pillars, none of which do much to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint: research and development, environmental protection (a separate issue from climate change), and global emissions.
3/

@cleanenergycan Let’s be clear, research and development itself doesn’t cut pollution. You need to deploy technology to do this, and this plan will do little to help get more clean technology adopted by industry, installed in Canadians’ homes, and onto our roads. 4/

@cleanenergycan There’s a place for R&D, but at this stage, research is a nice side dish, not the main course. We already have the technology we need to cut pollution today. 5/

@cleanenergycan While Canada can and should look for opportunities to export our clean technology abroad, it may prove impossible to secure 'credits' for emission reductions in these countries. 6/

@cleanenergycan We need to focus on pollution cuts in our own backyard. That’s how the 197 parties to the UNFCC have agreed to account for pollution cuts and address the global problem of climate change. 7/

@cleanenergycan Also worrying...today’s announcement put a # of effective climate policies under threat—not just pricing carbon pollution. It appears that Canada’s clean fuel std, which by some measures will cut even > pollution than carbon pricing, will also be significantly scaled back. 8/

@cleanenergycan e.g if Cdn will still be able to receive rebates for electric cars & whether a CPC government would follow Trump’s lead in rolling back vehicle emission regulations. In fact, the plan has little to say about transportation, which accounts for 25% of Canada’s carbon pollution. 9/

@cleanenergycan On Monday the Conservative party chose not to join the Liberals, NDP, Greens, and the Bloc Quebecois in standing up to declare that climate change was a national emergency. The reasons for that decision appear evident today. 10/

@cleanenergycan Because in an emergency, you debate how to do more—not less. Based on the information available, the Conservative plan would fail to deliver what Canadians expect: less pollution and more opportunity as the world shifts to clean energy. 11/11
FIN