And Now for Something Completely Different

In sharp contrast to the recently released Bush administration budget, Canada's Liberal Party government on Monday promised to double spending on contaminated-site cleanups, promote green technologies to increase energy efficiency, and go beyond the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol in curtailing emissions. Over 10 years, $4 billion will be devoted to cleaning up polluted military bases, abandoned mines, nuclear research labs, and other sites for which the federal government is responsible; an additional $500 million will go to partnerships with provincial governments for local cleanups. The speech surprised and pleased Canadian enviros, who had worried that the Liberal Party's new pro-business leader, Paul Martin, would scale back environmental commitments.