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Voluntary auto emissions deal inadequate, say environmental groupsApril 5, 2005 - OTTAWA – The federal government’s agreement with Canadian automakers to make new cars and trucks more fuel efficient will allow emissions to rise by 18% between 1990 and 2010, calculate the David Suzuki Foundation and the Pembina Institute. Announced in Windsor today, the deal reached between Ottawa and the automakers is further weakened by being voluntary, not mandatory. The last voluntary agreement between Canada and automakers, signed in 1982, failed to improve the average fuel efficiency of Canada’s vehicle fleet. “Twenty-three years after signing the last inadequate voluntary agreement, Canada has signed another one, again with no regulatory backstop,” said Dale Marshall, an Ottawa-based policy analyst with the Suzuki Foundation. “Because there are no regulations, the industry will once again be unaccountable if it fails to meet its obligations.” The agreement announced today also exempts the automakers from any responsibility for the trend towards larger, more inefficient vehicles. At the same time, the agreement states that federal fiscal measures to encourage consumer purchase of efficient vehicles are not required. “The main reason why emissions from vehicles are rising in Canada is increased sales of gas-guzzlers,” added Dr. Matthew Bramley, Director, Climate Change with the Pembina Institute. "The agreement contains a mechanism that leaves the government free to implement measures that do address that problem. The mechanism ensures that such measures would produce emission reductions over and above those required by the agreement." Mr. Marshall notes that the auto industry already has the technological expertise to build cars that pollute less and that require fewer raw materials to build. For example, Canada’s vehicles are much less efficient than those of the EU, Japan, Australia, and China. Passenger cars and light trucks were responsible for 10 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2002. The Kyoto Protocol, under which Canada must reduce its emissions to 6 per cent below the 1990 level during 2008-12, became international law on February 16, 2005. Contact Information: Dale Marshall, Climate Change Policy Analyst, David Suzuki Foundation
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