On suggestions ignored

In March, the Green Budget Coalition offered its suggestions to meet Stephen Harper in the middle, recommending ways of helping the environment while cutting government costs. Instead, Harper chose to cut positive environmental spending while continuing to toss money at harmful industries...and the Green Budget Coalition is none too pleased:

The Green Budget Coalition today expressed disappointment that the 2006 federal budget ignored prime opportunities to protect Canada's air and water, and to reduce climate change risks.

"There is virtually nothing in this budget to make good on the government's Throne Speech commitment to 'tangible' reductions in pollution and greenhouse gases," said Stephen Hazell, Coalition spokesperson, and Acting Conservation Director for the Sierra Club of Canada...

"Furthermore," added Hazell, "the federal government missed a great opportunity to announce the phase-out of the $1.4 billion in annual subsidies to the oil and gas sector, and the over $150 million annually to nuclear power. For decades, these 'pollution subsidies' have contributed to market failure, industrial inefficiency, unsustainable energy consumption, and unnecessary pollution and health damage."

Apparently dealing with such problems is a secondary concern for the Cons. Instead, the Cons took only one action supported by the Coalition (the tax exemption for donations of ecologically sensitive land), while cutting and adding spending in all the wrong places...meaning that the Cons will have to do a complete about-face from their budgetary policy if they want to create a Clean Air Act that will receive or deserve the support of Canada's environmental groups.