Start of the G8

Hi Everyone,
Two interesting pieces of information on Canada's stance prior to the G8 meetings later this week.

First is Stephen Harper's claim Canada can be a world leader in fighting climate change despite not attempting to meet our Kyoto obligations or even implementing emissions caps instead of intensity based targets.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/06/04/harper-germany.html

Second, if the opinions of David Suzuki, Al Gore, Stephen Lewis, the Pembina Institute, and the Sierra Club aren't enough for you, the World Wildlife Fund has released scorecards for the G8+5 countries which are meeting this week. It is not surprising, like many who have come before them, the the WWF did not have a positive response to Canada's climate change plan (on the scorecard, they actually said that Canada has no comprehensive plan at all). This is one of the most in depth analysis' I've seen comparing the world's largest emitters. Canada is ranked last along with the US. One point I found interesting was that although every time you hear a Conservative MP discuss climate change, they never forget to blame the former Liberal government (see paragraph 3 from the article above). However, the Director of the WWF's climate change program stated that "Canada must break ranks with the US to restore its former reputation as a leader on climate change". See the article here: http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/index.cfm?uNewsID=104660
(if you have the time, have a look through the scorecards as well... interesting stuff)

stay tuned, the G8 meetings start Wednesday

-Dan