Obama Opportunist
Prime Minister Harper is hoping that he’ll receive some political charisma by association when he visits President Obama on September 16th.
But a comparison of President Obama’s and Prime Minister Harper’s track records shows that where it counts, the Prime Minister comes up short.
Read the tale of the table below…
| Issue | Obama | Harper |
| Commitment to cut carbon pollution | A legislated target to reduce emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. The actual emissions reductions, according to the World Resources Institute, when other initiatives (energy efficiency, renewable energy, international deforestation) are factored in could be up to 19% below 1990 levels by 2020, close to what scientists say is needed. Endorsed the G8 target to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050, calling it "a historic consensus on concrete goals for reducing carbon emissions.”[1] . | A theoretical target to reduce emissions to 20% below 2006 levels by 2020 with no plan to meet it. On the surface, this may seem on par with the Obama plan. But, Harper’s target is only a number in a press release. All independent analyses and the government’s own report show that current policies will not hit the mark. [2, 3, 4] Went along with the G8 target, then retreated and called it “aspirational” the very next day.[5] Sound familiar? Harper stole a page from Bush’s playbook – he pushed the APEC countries to “work to achieve a common understanding on a long-term aspirational global emissions reduction goal”.[6] |
| Renewable energy and energy efficiency | Spending $26.73 billion over the next two years, 14:1 what Harper is spending on a per capita basis.[7] | Slashed the ecoEnergy for Renewable Power program, a highly successful project that previously supported renewable energy. |
| Vehicle fuel efficiency standards | Aligned the entire country with California’s standards within weeks of being in office. | Followed suit one week after Obama raised the standard. 80% of cars manufactured in Canada are sold in the U.S.[8] |
| Role of science | Has shown respect for the role of science in the climate debate by appointing respected scientists like John Holdren to high profile positions in his administration. | Recently appointed climate sceptics to key science positions in government,[9] and hired a new head of communications, John Williamson, who wrote "Despite all the scare-mongering from the United Nations and hand-wringing about an alleged ‘scientific consensus’".[10] |
Click on the options below to learn more about Stephen Harper as…
- A salesman for Big Oil who never met a dirty oil project he didn’t like.
- A denier of climate change.
- A Conservative Canadian Prime Minister near election time looking for a boost from being photographed with President Obama.
- Someone who George Bush thinks “understands the stakes of the 21st century”.
CLICK HERE TO TELL OBAMA: DON’T BUY WHAT HARPER IS SELLING
Footnotes
- “Canada says G8 climate target ‘aspirational,’ no need to change policy,” Bruce Cheadle, Canadian Press, July 9, 2009.
- “Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development,” Spring 2009, Chapter 2, p. 58.
- “Response of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy to its Obligations under the Kyoto ProtocolImplementation Act,” July 2009, p. 15.
- “Estimating the Effect of the Canadian Government’s 2006–2007 Greenhouse Gas Policies,” by Mark Jaccard and Nic Rivers, for the CD Howe Institute, June 2007, p. 3.
- TORONTO, July 9 (Reuters)
- http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070908/apec_climate_070908/20070908?hub=TopStories
- http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/canada-v-us-investment-in-re-ee-backgrounder.pdf
- http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=6F2DE1CA-1&news=D8C4903B-B406-4B70-8A4A-EDEF99B71D38
- http://www.desmogblog.com/stephen-harper-war-climate-science
- http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/460885%0A
