Critics slam Tory fuel economy targets

Cannon talks of a made in Canada solution but then he recommends the standard of 35 miles per US gallon the US standard. So what he means must be translated as a made in the USA standard exported to Canada and decorated with a Maple Leaf logo sort of like MacDonald's Canada.


Critics slam Tory fuel economy targets
TheStar.com - News - Critics slam Tory fuel economy targets

January 17, 2008
Les Perreaux
THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL – A federal push for new vehicle fuel-economy standards is unlikely to produce concrete results before several political cards fall into place on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

An auto industry insider scoffed at the "political timing" of a two-month consultation process launched Thursday aimed at reaching new rules for fuel economy.

Tory Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said the process will create rules starting in the 2011 model year that will aim to have the average Canadian passenger vehicle do at least 35 miles on a U.S. gallon by 2020.

"I would suggest to you there will be an election in the next 60 to 90 days, the timing of (the consultation period) may have played into that," said James H. Miller, executive vice-president of Honda Canada Inc.

"They've been talking about having these consultations going back three or four months, so I'm not sure why today. It's political timing."

Cannon's plan may be to improve average fuel efficiency from 27 miles-per-gallon to the level of some hybrid and compact cars, but it still came under immediate fire as a target that is too low and too slow.

It started in Quebec, where Premier Jean Charest has already promised to move forward and shadow a more stringent plan proposed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"The California standard is the one we should follow," Charest told reporters at a Liberal meeting in Sherbrooke, Que.

"We'd like that the Canadian government get in line with it, and we will continue to push them to adopt it."

Premier Gordon Campbell said British Columbia will set its own standards to match California's plan if the federal government lags behind.

He pointed to dozens of Canadian provinces and U.S. states representing about half of the North American population who want quicker, tougher standards.

"We want to achieve the best standard and reduce as much greenhouse gas as we can in as economically viable way as possible," Campbell said.

"Why we're going to the lowest common denominator is beyond me."

Manitoba has also said it will follow the California standard, while Ontario, the heart of Canada's auto industry, is opposed to it.

But the California approach faces its own rocky road.

The U.S. Congress adopted the less-stringent benchmark of 35 miles per gallon, or 6.7 litres per 100 kilometres.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a court challenge against the California measures, which have been adopted by at least a dozen other U.S. states.

Whatever the outcome of provincial debates, the U.S. court case, or Canadian national consultations and a federal election, Cannon promised Canada will have "the stringent, dominant North American standard."

"Our government recognizes the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse-gas and air-pollutant emissions in Canada and that is why we are taking action now," Cannon said at the Montreal Auto Show.

"We welcome the U.S. goal but are committed to developing a made-in-Canada standard that achieves, at minimum, that target."

Cannon noted that the environment is a jurisdiction he shares with the provinces, but he insisted that should not block the adoption of a national standard.

"If we speak to industry and speak to the average Canadian, they all want to have a national standard," he said.

Environment groups dismissed the Tory plan, saying it's too slow and aims too low.

"This is getting us nowhere fast," said Arthur Sandborn of Greenpeace.

"What we're doing here is not going to get us there. It's a compromise between people who wanted to work on climate change and the Bush administration who wanted to do nothing."

George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Agency consumer group, welcomed the move, saying stringent fuel economy rules will benefit all drivers.

But he warned that the mountain of details left to be sorted out in the short consultation process will be key.

"It's a good idea to follow the models that are set up elsewhere, because economies of scale are important, you don't want to be a small market on your own," Iny said.

He described 35 miles per gallon as "significant," but said many questions remain, such as timing, whether certain classes of vehicles will be exempt, and whether ethanol mileage might count, even though the alcohol-based additive is not widely available in Canada.

"These things have happened in the past," Iny said.

"The devil is in the details."

The Sierra Club of Canada said the government has missed an opportunity for real action. National campaigns director Jean Langlois said Cannon's announcement contrasts sharply with the leadership shown by Quebec, California and other provinces and states.

"Canada should lead the way, not drag the leaders down," Langlois said.

"Constant delay already means that North America is 15 years behind Europe and Japan in regulating fuel efficiency standards."

(With files from Jocelyne Richer in Sherbrooke, Que., and Steve Mertl in Vancouver)