Although he has not outright abandoned Canada's Paris commitment to reduce 2005 greenhouse gas emission levels by 30 per cent by 2030, he has in recent days referred to the target as "a dream" and "aspirational." This is the target set by the Harper government and accepted by the Liberals, and which we will miss widely if we depend on our current policies. And if we keep expanding tar sands production, it will indeed become no more than a dream.
MacKay has rejected a carbon tax and seems to be leaning toward technological fixes. He supports greater use of electrical vehicles and said he was "looking at what other provinces are doing right now including carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is happening in Saskatchewan."
The latter is not necessarily a good sign. Jason Kenney and Scott Moe are big on CCS because it allows for more production of fossil fuels. It does have a contribution to make, but a small one. Saskatchewan's single CCS facility, SaskPower's $1.6-billion project at the coal-fired Boundary 3 power plant near Estevan, has chronically missed its targets, and SaskPower has now announced it will not be expanding CCS technology to two other power plants as it had earlier intended. MacKay's reference to what other provinces are doing suggests that rather than take Greta Thunberg's advice and listen to the scientists, he is listening to Kenney and Moe.
But let's give the guy a chance. He has said, "for a whole generation of Canadians, this is a primary issue. And so, we have to be able to deliver a solution." Sounds promising, but which Canadians will he pay attention to? A recent Abacus poll said 41 percent of us believe "a serious plan to combat climate change" is a "must-have" for the new Conservative leader, but only 18 percent of Conservative voters agreed. If he pays more attention to the former than the latter, as Andrew Scheer obviously didn't, he may have something to offer. We shall see.
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