Voluntary Service

Canada Unveils $1B Plan to Address Climate Change

Canada is stepping up to the plate to tackle climate change -- or at least emerging from the dugout. Prime Minister Jean Chretien yesterday unveiled a nearly $1 billion package aimed at helping the nation lower its emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan includes incentives for individuals and businesses to make their homes and buildings more energy-efficient, subsidies for the fuel-cell and ethanol industries, and money to assist provinces and aboriginal communities in launching emission-reduction initiatives. Still, Canada has lots more to do in order to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to slash greenhouse gas emissions -- and this plan, with its voluntary initiatives and subsidies, will be the easy part. Setting new mandatory pollution limits on industry won't prove so simple.