posted March 14, 2005 05:09 PM            

Food costs will soar as well due to the main component of fertilizer being crude oil and it's conversion to nitrogen fertilizer not to mention food transportation cost increases.

In the mean time, less developed nations get a pass...including China and India. The implementation of this treaty means goods produced by developed nations will be even less competitive with products manufactured in less developed nations so balance of trade deficits will climb and money will flow out of developed nations to foreign nations at an even higher rate.

Good luck Canada. Bush and the American Senate told them to stuff the Kyoto treaty....95-0, for the best of all reasons.
The goal of the Kyoto treaty has always been to make efficient producers uncompetitive and transfer wealth out of developed nations and as usual, it's our radical leftist friends who are behind the redistribution of wealth.

Kyoto Costs Ballooning, Cabinet Ministers Warned
By JEFF SALLOT AND STEVEN CHASE
Monday, March 14, 2005 Page A1

OTTAWA -- The full cost to Ottawa of meeting Canada's targets for fighting global warming under the controversial Kyoto accord could exceed $10-billion, senior federal cabinet ministers have been warned.

That's twice what the federal government has budgeted so far for Kyoto.

The estimates -- one of a number of attempts to quantify the ultimate cost of Kyoto -- rose out of recent consultations between bureaucrats in Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada.

Cabinet ministers on a special cabinet committee tackling Kyoto were briefed on the ballooning cost estimate last week, federal sources say.

Ottawa is also being advised it should raise its estimate of the emissions cuts necessary to meet Canada's Kyoto targets to between 270 and 300 megatonnes from earlier forecasts of 240 megatonnes.

That reflects the fact that Canada's economy has expanded faster than expected, emitting more greenhouse gases as a result.

This means more emissions for Canada to cut because Kyoto stipulates Ottawa must ensure greenhouse-gas output between 2008 and 2012 is 6 per cent below 1990 levels.

The 1997 Kyoto treaty aims to curb emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, believed to contribute to global warming. These are primarily emitted by burning fossil fuel such as oil.

"It's a political horror show," one official said, noting that it was only last month Finance Minister Ralph Goodale presented Parliament with a budget allocating $5-billion over the next five years to the Kyoto plan and other environmental programs.

"This is a big issue for ministers because it's a big fiscal issue," another official said.

Ministers on a special cabinet committee tackling Kyoto have been warned by bureaucrats from Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada that Ottawa could end up spending billions of dollars of the total Kyoto bill to buy credits for greenhouse gas reductions made outside Canada in order to meet Kyoto targets.

The committee is making plans for the first mandatory regulations forcing large industrial emitters to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- rules that could carry fines of up to $200 a tonne if companies fail to meet their emissions targets.

Liberal sources say that Prime Minister Paul Martin is growing impatient with the inability of his ministers to reach a consensus on an implementation plan.

The Kyoto treaty on climate change, which was ratified by Canada in 2002, came into force last month.

But the federal cabinet was unable to agree on an implementation plan by that date.

A week later, the federal budget unveiled some elements of the plan, including a huge expansion of the home energy retrofit subsidy program. But Ottawa has yet to fill in all the details of its Kyoto plan and how it will meet its growing targets.

The toughest issue, Liberal sources say, is what to do about auto emissions.

Natural Resources Minister John Efford hopes Ottawa can reach a voluntary agreement with auto makers to improve fuel efficiency. But Environment Minister Stéphane Dion reportedly wants to impose standards by federal regulation.

The Liberals have been scrambling to fill major shortfalls in Canada's Kyoto emissions-reduction plans since a confidential audit of previous climate change abatement spending in December found that the 2002 implementation strategy had fallen apart.

The special cabinet committee on climate change is scheduled to meet next on March 21. One official said this is not a deadline to reach agreement on the Kyoto implementation plan.

posted March 14, 2005 06:07 PM              

10 billion over 10 years eh?
so in other words, just for the cost so far to invade iraq we could finance 15+ countries the size of canada (9nth largest economy in the world) for the next 10 years...sounds like a bargain

Green Industries Applaud Canada's Budget Proposal
February 28, 2005

Calgary,Canada [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Canadian Finance Minister Ralphy Goodale seems to have made an industry organization in Canada feel warm and green all over with the budget he presented for the Country. The Minister announced a number of incentives and programs that should make investments in low-impact renewable energy more attractive, according to the Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition, and more profitable for the country, according to the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).

The Coalition has been pushing for renewable energy development mechanisms from the Canadian Government since the group was launched in late 2000. People were inspired to form the Coalition because of the Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI) from the 2001 budget, the group said, and the measures announced should stimulate the business climate for renewable technologies.

"These new federal government incentives and programs will support investments in innovation, economic growth, and a new energy infrastructure for the Canadian economy. It puts Canada on the radar screen for global investors in renewable energy," said John Keating, CEO of Canadian Hydro Developers. "Previously, Canada wasn't able to compete with other countries for lucrative, renewable energy investment dollars."

The wind energy industry in particular has a reason to look forward to new development with the proposed budget. An increase proposed for the WPPI would support 4,000 MW of installed capacity for wind energy in Canada, which is four times the initial target set for the incentive.

The WPPI provides a payment of 1 cent per kWh to wind energy producers for electricity produced over a ten-year period. Incentives approved in the 2001 federal budget made funding available to support the deployment of 1,000 MW of wind energy in Canada through 2007, but these funds are likely to be fully committed sometime in 2005. Payments made through the WPPI helps to close the current cost differential between wind energy and other sources of electricity generation.

"Installation of 4,000 MW of wind energy in Canada will generate approximately $6 billion in investment and will create more than 40,000 direct and indirect person-years of employment", said Robert Hornung, the president of the CanWEA. "By expanding the WPPI program, the Government of Canada is helping to facilitate the creation of a domestic market large enough to support the manufacturing of wind turbines and related components in Canada."

Most of Canada's best wind resources are located in rural areas, according to CanWEA, and wind energy developments also represent a significant rural economic development opportunity for the country. Such projects strengthen municipal tax bases, create jobs, and bring an additional source of income to landowners in areas of Canada that have often been hard hit by declines in other natural resource sectors.

Countries such as the United States, most of Europe, India, Australia, and Japan, have established mechanisms to recognize the environmental attributes of renewable energy, the Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition stated in their press release. Over the past year coalition members have stressed that investments in Green Power will provide a range of benefits for the country such as; creating a whole new industry for Canada, investing in innovation and sustainable renewable energy technologies, diversifying Canada's energy supply, establishing made-in-Canada manufacturing facilities, developing regional economies, investing in new business capital and job creation, increasing industry competitiveness, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Low-impact renewable energy can provide an important part of Canada's power needs without exhausting non-renewable energy resources or impacting the environment," said Tom Marr-Laing, Director of Policy for the Pembina Institute.

The Coalition recently put forward its "Vision of a Low-Impact Renewable Energy Future for Canada", which outlines a goal to have low-impact renewable energy account for a minimum of 7 percent of Canada's electricity production in 2010, and 15 per cent by 2020. An analysis of the employment impacts of the Coalition's "Vision" document indicates that 20,000 jobs would be created by 2015 in meeting our goal.

The Coalition said looks forward to working with the government as one of the key stakeholders at the table in the development of a National Renewable Energy Strategy.

The Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition is a group of corporate, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and municipal organizations focused on accelerating the development of green power in Canada. The group is comprised of fourteen corporations, five environmental organizations and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=23113