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Reluctant leaders
Friday July 11 2008 While it’s refreshing to see Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper exhibiting some leadership qualities at the G8 Summit in Japan, we’re not entirely sure his soft position on worldwide global warming emissions truly reflects what all Canadians want.
By all accounts, Harper led the way in convincing fellow leaders from  the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain, Italy, Germany and France to cut emissions in half by 2050— a gesture that has been sharply criticized by environmental groups.
“At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G8 leaders will be long forgotten,” said one spokesperson for Oxfam International.
Not only is the target date considered too little, too late, but the agreement reached this week between the eight world powers allows each nation to set its own base year from which the 50 per cent emission reduction will be calculated.
Globally, Canada and the U.S. have long been viewed as among the two most reluctant nations on the planet to adopt real action to combat the effects of global warming emissions.
When one considers that the G8 nations are responsible for more than 60 per cent of the carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere (according to the World Wildlife Federation), we would have hoped they would lead the way to literally clearing our air.
Instead, Harper reportedly told his G8 peers about his government’s approach to the problem here at home, including refusing to meet Canada’s obligations under the Kyoto Protocol for economic reasons.
Harper trumpeted this week’s accord as an “important advance”, citing U.S. president George Bush’s first-ever acceptance of long-term greenhouse gas cuts and the first time Russia has shared a similar sentiment.
As we said before, it is nice to see Canada’s prime minister taking charge on a world stage. We’re just not sure that Canadians want to be known as leaders in the field of dragging our feet where global warming is concerned.

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