Coming around

The Cons have indeed reversed course from their Kyoto position of a week ago - but only in the sense that they're now planning to implement an emissions trading system as part of a Kyoto plan, and not based on any intention to dump the treaty entirely:

Environment Minister Rona Ambrose is jetting to Bonn this weekend to prepare for talks on extending the Kyoto Protocol, and will soon unveil an ambitious new plan for cutting Canada's greenhouse emissions.

Although the Conservatives opposed ratification of the climate treaty while in opposition, they appear to have undergone a conversion, promising to do a better job of cutting emissions than the Liberals ever did.

“There's an action plan that we are going to move on very quickly,” Ms. Ambrose said in an interview Friday. “I'm very committed. The prime minister has given me a very strong mandate.”

She said the action plan will include an emissions-trading system for large polluters and will try to engage the public in a new way.

It remains to be seen whether the Cons will actually follow through rather than merely talking about the importance of cutting down on emissions. (And sadly the Libs' record provides a disturbingly strong example of the latter course of action.) But it's certainly a plus that there's now a political consensus on the need to complete the Kyoto process. And with all national parties now in agreement, there's even less excuse for anything less than immediate action.