Thread by @TrevorsIdeas

Good article here by @AaronWherry on climate change and the choice facing voters. An honest presentation of facts and expert analysis.

cbc.ca/news/politics/…

@AaronWherry Anyone can set targets. Targets are meaningless without a plan to achieve them. Heck Harper set targets and then proceeded to do nothing for a decade.

But within the article there are some statements I'd like to highlight. (I'll skip CPC cause they aren't doing anything)

First LPC. They are admitting that their plan isn't perfect. They are admitting there is more action to take. Only those being completely disingenuous could claim they are doing nothing however. They have launched nothing short of an all out war on cons to get a price on carbon.

Yes there is a 79MT gap between the LPC's efforts and the target. But as the article points out the gap under Harper was 300MT. That's a 75% improvement right there. And the recent initiatives (tree planting, zero emission vehicle support, etc) will help to close that gap.

Further they are suggesting a long term goal of net zero emissions by 2050 with 5 year interval targets. It sounds like they are being serious with this and their actions so far support that theory.

Next up in the article are the NDP. Provincial NDP in AB and BC have supported expansion of resource development and, in some instances, pipelines.

Federally Singh dances around concrete statements on the subject. Happily blasting Trudeau for his pipeline purchase while simultaneously supporting other heavy carbon projects like LNG.

Mr. Singh and the NDP have a stronger target for 2030 than the LPC. The GPC do as well. However:

"Neither party has yet produced projections that show exactly how they would get to those levels."

I remember Harper. He set targets too. A lot of good that did.

As for the concrete NDP proposals - They want to retrofit half of Canada's homes by 2030. That's ambitious to be sure but would it meet the targets by itself? Not likely. Buildings contribute but are not a major factor in our emissions profile.

canada.ca/en/environment…

NDP have also proposed net-zero electricity generation. This was aided, of course, by Dalton McGuinty in Ontario having done much of the heavy lifting on coal. This is an important step, for sure, but will it meet the targets?

As we see here, much of Canada's power generation comes from clean sources. So while we can budge the needle some further it does little to tackle the overall issues of oil and gas production (much of our product is exported) and transportation.

nrcan.gc.ca/electricity-fa…

It is important to note that all parties, including the CPC, have programs to retrofit houses. On that at least they are all comparable.

Onto to the GPC. Further than the NDP, the GPC have announced wanting to retrofit every single building in Canada to be net zero emission by 2030. Every. Single. Building.

Does that sound ambitious? Sure does... Possible? Let's check their budget...

Unfortunately a glance at their budget reveals they don't actually have much budgeted for this. $550M a year. In fact the picture below details their entire budget for climate change. Around $638M a year. That is NOT going to retrofit every building in Canada.

The GPC, similarly, also wants to remove fossil fuel generation from the power grid. A solid move. But same as the NDP that isn't going to move the needle enough to meet the targets they have set, which are more ambitious.

Now you might say but the GPC have talked about all sorts of other measures!! Yes... they have. But there's nothing concrete. I encourage you to read their platform. There's nothing in it about any other measures. So they have no plans to act on them.

greenparty.ca/sites/default/…

Targets without plans are useless. Even Harper could achieve that.

On the other hand the GPC are happily adopting the LPC's climate plans including the LPC's price on carbon. So for all their bravado about how horrid the plan is... they seem to think it's good enough for them.

I will stop my rambling now. I hope that something in here has given you something new to consider. Don't just assume NDP/GPC are better on the environment than LPC because of "common sense." Check the data. Check the platforms. See where the money is allocated (or not).