Canada and the environment: A fresh start for a fresh decade by Preston Manning

This is an interesting opinion piece from Preston Manning about the environment from a conservative perspective. When I was young, he was one of the barbarians at the gate, but as time goes by there are few people in Canada as thoughtful and open minded as he is.

This is quote from the piece:

Grounds for more productive dialogue and action on the environment do exist among those Canadians who share the following convictions: (1) That it is a good idea to reduce the negative environmental consequences associated with the production and burning of hydrocarbons, regardless of whether you consider global warming to be one of or the most serious of those consequences; and (2) That the choices required to address our environmental challenges are not polarizing and divisive “either/or” choices – either regulatory action by government or market based initiatives by business – but unifying and consensus-building “both/and” choices.

His seven points on routes on the way forward are a good reflection of the different options towards solutions, but he is correct to say no one route will be the answer and that all of them need to be embraced

1. Full Cost Accounting
2. Science, Technology, and Innovation
3. Market mechanisms
4. Government Policy and Regulation.
5. Demand-Side Transformation.
6. New Eco-Partnerships.
7. Political Leadership at the National Level

Having Preston Manning come forward on this issue in this manner will make the environment a more palatable issue for the right in Canada