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Smoggy days in Canada now named after politicians |
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| CANADA: June 21, 2002 | ||
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TORONTO - Greenpeace said yesterday it would name smog-filled days in Toronto after local members of the federal Liberal government in order to draw attention to Canada's failure to ratify the Kyoto accord, a worldwide effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
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Thursday, Toronto's first smog day of the summer, was called Smog Day Augustine, after member of Parliament Jean Augustine, the environmental organization said. "For nine years, Augustine has taken Toronto's votes but has done nothing to clean Toronto's air," said Peter Tabuns, executive director of Greenpeace. "Fighting smog means ratifying Kyoto and doing it now," he said. Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government signed on to the Kyoto agreement in 1997 but it has yet to ratify it, citing concerns over the financial impact and an ongoing debate over "clean" energy exports to the United States. The accord seeks to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are blame for global warming. "Augustine wasn't elected to represent polluters. She was elected to serve people suffering from pollution," Tabuns said. He didn't say which Liberal legislator would be "honored" next. Tabuns said Greenpeace's christening system is similar to the one used to name hurricanes - where the season's first hurricane is give a name starting with A, the second one with B, and so on.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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