NDP Leader Tom Mulcair unveiled his party’s environment policy framework for the coming election Wednesday, vowing to “reverse the damage that Stephen Harper has done.”

Speaking in front of the University of Ottawa’s Green Wall, Mulcair promised what he called “the sustainable approach Canadians want to see.

“Our vision of sustainable prosperity seizes new opportunities for clean energy, effectively cuts carbon pollution, reduces risks to our communities and coastlines, and establishes an assessment and review process that Canadians can put their trust in once and for all.”

Mulcair spoke less than 24 hours after provincial NDP Leader Rachel Notley won a majority election in Alberta. He acknowledged this historical moment in Alberta politics during his keynote address, saying this shows “there is a desire for change in provinces like Alberta.

“Liberal and Conservative failure on the environment is hurting our quality of life, our health. It’s hurting our economy and it’s tarnishing our global reputation,” he added. “Worst of all, it’s passing off a far greater burden to future generations.”

The NDP is offering plan involving what Mulcair describes as a “kickstart” for clean energy production. The party proposes to invest in clean energy over subsidizing fossil fuels, and to implement the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

Mulcair is also proposing “a pan-Canadian cap-and-trade mechanism” to fight climate change, calling it “the most cost effective way to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

The NDP also is promising to address the transportation of dangerous goods and boost the government’s preparedness for “a major environmental disaster.” Citing the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, Mulcair said “it’s time we had rail safety standards that Canadians trust.”

Then he referred to the recent English Bay oil spill as “a second example of how dangerous the Conservative policies are to our communities … Conservatives keep promising world-class oil spill response, but you know what? You can’t clean up an oil spill with talking points. This was, in fact, a world class failure.”

The NDP will introduce “tougher rules to help prevent oil spills,” he said.

Finally, he said, the party will “work with provinces, industry and with indigenous and other communities to revamp the environmental review process for the approval of major resource infrastructure, such as pipelines.”

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to catch the little slip of tongue that you’ll sometimes hear from Conservative ministers,” he said. “They’ll refer not to an environmental assessment process. They’ll talk about an environmental approval process, as if the result was a foregone conclusion, which is, I guess, what they’re striving for.

“Only through a strong project review process with sustainability at its core can we ensure that proposals are safe for Canadians before we move forward.”