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Published online 17 September 2008 | Nature 455, 268-269 (2008) | doi:10.1038/455268a
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Green issues dominate election
Climate change is high on Canadian agenda.
Vancouver
As the United States heads for a showdown at the polls, its Canadian neighbour is rushing out its own election — announced on 7 September, voting is scheduled for 14 October. In Canada, a country dominated by vast expanses of wilderness — as well as growing greenhouse-gas emissions — green issues are at the forefront of the debate.
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I live in British Columbia, Canada. I am a big supporter of the existing carbon tax in BC, and the one the federal Liberals are proposing. I admit that I am biased; because I live in the city and walk to work and live in a climate that doesn't require a large amount of heating, in general I get by consuming less fossil fuels than my suburban and rural peers. Because of this I expect to end up a few hundred dollars ahead due to the new tax structure. Those that live in colder climates and rely more on automobiles for transportation will not be so lucky. For this reason, and because of an extremely effective negative ad compaign painting the 'Green Shift' plan as a leftist government tax grab, the Liberals are suffering quite badly in the polls. Similarly, the popular support for the provincial government has dwindled since the introduction of the carbon tax here. The above article claims that 60% of Canadians will rank the environment as in important issue this election. Unfortuanately, even if that figure is correct, the 40% left over will be more than enough to elect the Conservatives to another term (there are 3 left-leaning parties that may split the climate vote). For this reason I regret to say that Canada will likely continue to lag behind Europe, and after the US election may even fall behind our southern neighbour in terms of climate policy.