Conservatives’ Attempts to Take Credit for Emission Decreases Unwarranted

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, MP Saanich-Gulf Islands, today noted that Environment Canada’s 2011 Air Pollutant Emission Summaries and Historical Emission Trends, based on the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), does not give the Conservatives bragging rights concerning their efforts to prevent climate change.

“This report has nothing to do with the crisis of climate change and in no way vindicates the Conservatives and their anti-environment policies of the past six years,” said Ms. May.

“As Scott Vaughan, Canada’s highly respected Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, noted two weeks ago, the NPRI actually exempts releases from oil and gas exploration and development. How then can Mr. Kent and others claim the report’s figures justify their pro-extraction policies?”

The report also contains no emission information regarding hundreds of thousands of hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – projects across the country. “Not only are Canadians being kept from the truth about the toxic chemicals used in this process, but we are being prevented from knowing the full impact of fracking on the environment and climate,” Ms. May noted.

The Conservatives are also trying to take credit for a decrease in lead, mercury, and cadmium levels, but this is not due to any recent federal policy changes.