Canadian federal budget a step forward on climate change

Ottawa, Canada, March 29, 2012: “The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) congratulates the Government of Canada for removing from the federal Budget the misleading language of previous Budgets concerning clean air and climate change,” said Tom Harris, executive director ICSC which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. “In past years, this serious science mistake, appearing repeatedly in such an important document, contributed to public confusion about the distinctly different approaches needed to address these two issues. This mistake has now been corrected and therefore a more productive debate about environmental protection will be possible moving forward.”

“We also express our support for the elimination of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE),” stated Dr. Tim Ball, ICSC science advisor and former climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. “The NRTEE’s biased approach to the climate issue, looking at the impacts on Canada of warming, but ignoring the far more dangerous, and more probable, cooling, contributed to a distortion of the discussion about how best to prepare for future climate change.”

“While we are unable to assess specific climate-related Budget details until the Estimates are released in May, it is encouraging to see essentially no references to the mistaken concept that humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions have a substantial influence on global climate,” said Harris. “This is different to past Budgets where climate change was highlighted as a major factor driving a number of federal initiatives. We encourage the government to now also change the emphasis of their Clean Air Fund and clean energy generation projects to focus solely on the important topic of air quality. Adaptation to climate change is also important, but it is unrelated to clean air so must be treated separately.”

The ICSC is a non-partisan group of scientists, economists and energy and policy experts who are working to promote better understanding of climate science and related policy worldwide. We aim to help create an environment in which a more rational, open discussion about climate issues emerges, thereby moving the debate away from implementation of costly and ineffectual “climate control” measures. Instead, ICSC encourages effective planning for, and adaptation to, inevitable natural climate variability, and continuing scientific research into the causes and impacts of climate change.

ICSC also focuses on publicizing the repercussions of misguided plans to “solve the climate crisis”. This includes, but is not limited to, “carbon” sequestration as well as the dangerous impacts of attempts to replace conventional energy supplies with wind turbines, solar power, most biofuels and other ineffective and expensive energy sources.

For more information about this announcement or ICSC in general, visit http://www.climatescienceinternational.org

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