OTTAWA - A draft climate plan being weighed by the Conservative government would stabilize Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by 2012, according to a document obtained by The Canadian Press.
The 13-page plan, marked secret, sets out spending plans for many new initiatives, including $230 million for development of clean energy technologies.
It would allow companies to purchase carbon credits under the Kyoto protocol's clean development mechanism, which is intended to encourage investment in poor countries.
It says regulations and programs introduced by Ottawa and the provinces will mean that emissions can be expected to start to decline as early as 2010 and no later than 2012.
After that, emissions will decline steadily, according to the document.
Eric Richer, a spokesman for Environment Minister John Baird, said the plan "sounded like action and we promised action.''
But Richer said he had not seen the document and could not comment on it.
The program would fall short of achieving the target of the Kyoto Protocol -- a six per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2012 -- but it would be far more ambitious than anything the Conservatives have suggested to date.
The Tories came to power more than a year ago with a thin environmental agenda but have been trying to build credibility on the issue as polls show strong public concern about climate change.
Baird has promised to announce mandatory emissions-cutting targets for heavy industry this spring. He has said these would be intensity-based, meaning that total emissions could still rise so long as they were cut as a percentage of final output.
The document contains gaps for the intensity targets.
It suggests the government will rely extensively on carbon sequestration, a process by which carbon emissions are collected before they enter the atmosphere and stored underground.
It says more than two-thirds of Canada's coal-fired generating capacity will be need to be replaced by 2020, and some $150 billion in new investment will be needed. It says coal-fired plants with near-zero emissions are feasible.
"The challenges Canada faces should not be a source of pessimism or fear,'' says the document. "They should in fact be seen as real opportunities for the country.
"The potential benefits flowing from an ambitious and realistic clean air plan that reduces greenhouse gases are enormous.''
The document would allow for domestic emissions trading by Canadian companies and suggests that international trading would be advantageous.
"Broadening the scope of the emissions trading system to include Canada's international partners can reduce overall compliance costs to Canadian industry.''
Regulated industries would be permitted to purchase offset credits. Under an offset system, farms, forestry and other operations could sell credits based on their contributions to cutting greenhouse pollution.
Other measures mentioned:
- A $10-million ecoMobility program to help municipalities promote public transit.
- A $15-million ecoTechnology for Vehicles Program for testing and promoting environmentally friendly vehicle technology.
- A $22-million ecoEnergy for Fleets Program aimed at operators and managers of Canada's commercial vehicle fleets.
