I've been substantially away from the home front news for quite awhile, but this is worth mentioning on both a national and personal note.

On June 18, Canada became the first country ever to be brought to court for failing to comply with its legal commitments to combat global warming, specifically its failure to meet (and perhaps more to the point, their failure to do anything about) their mandatory legal obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

The lawsuit itself is being argued by a coalition of groups - most notably my former workplace, Ecojustice Canada - and seeks a declaration from the Court that the government has not complied with the law, and an order requiring it to do so. A decision is likely to occur in the coming months.

For readers unfamiliar with Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund), I strongly recommend them as a worthy organization to support (I do so myself). For my American readers, think Earthjustice.

The Federal Government is facing a lawsuit for its failure to take action on global warming and address Canada's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

The lawsuit is a direct follow up to the Conservative government's failure to meet the demands of a private members bill passed by opposition parties this past February. That bill demanded that the minority Conservatives honour Canada's international climate change commitments and draft a plan outlining how they would do so.

But when the Conservatives unveiled their "Turning the Corner" plan for climate change, not only did they fail to meet the demands of that bill, they also demonstrated it in plain math - a move which may have swung the door wide open for this lawsuit to occur.

Conservatives, global warming deniers, and even some environmentally sympathetic Canadians, will be howling that there is no way we can meet those targets by 2012, the deadline of the Kyoto Protocol. They are probably even right. But getting Canada to meet Kyoto isn't necessarily the point of the lawsuit anymore than the point of the Conservatives' climate change plan was to actually address global warming.

The lawsuit is a pointed action directed at the federal government, regardless of what party comes into power next, to push them towards taking the most aggressive action possible against global warming. Kyoto may not be reachable, but this is no barrier to Canada developing a genuine plan to curb greenhouse gases. If the Conservatives present such a plan, you can be certain this lawsuit would disappear - even if that plan doesn't meet the strict Kyoto letter of the law.

The lawsuit was brought to Federal Court by Friends of the Earth Canada, Ecojustice Canada and private attorney Chris Paliare.

Opposition parties are ramping up talk of bringing down the minority government after the Conservatives opportunistically posted their comprehensive climate change plan online while political attention was distracted by the ongoing North American leaders summit.

Both the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois are taking exception to the plan which fails to outline a path to meet Canada's greenhouse gas reduction targets agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol. It also flies in the face of a private members bill passed by opposition parties that legally requires Canada to honour it's Kyoto commitments.

(NDP leader) Mr. Layton suggests the lack of action on climate change would force his party to vote against the Conservatives.

The Liberals did not return phone calls yesterday to say whether they would be willing to prop up the government after the lack of action on Mr. Rodriguez's law.

But Bloc Québécois MP Bernard Bigras, who is his party's environment critic, is making threats similar to those of Mr. Layton. The government is taking a "political risk" by ignoring the law, Mr. Bigras said. The plan released this week "is not acceptable, it does not constitute a response as required by the law that was voted upon by Parliament," he said.

At this stage, critics may be right in saying that it's simply too late for Canada to meet its Kyoto commitments. However, what's equally true is that the Conservative alternative is an industry friendly piece of toilet paper that falls far short of what Canada can and should do. The final blow will fall to the Liberals. Although a minority government, the Conservatives need the support of just one of the opposition parties to survive a confidence vote.

In the aftermath of a lengthy leadership race and a mediocre standing in the polls, the Liberals have looked reticent at pushing for an election. But if the NDP and the Bloc stand in opposition to the Conservatives the Liberals will face a real dilemma - show no leadership or credibility by siding with the Conservatives and their farcical environment plan, or face an election they are not equipped to win.

Here's some advice. The Liberals will not gain power again as long as they show zero backbone in the face of Conservative policies. They'd be better served by establishing, then holding true to, some principles rather than playing politics around them. If they do that, the votes will follow. Fail at that, and they will lose either way.

The Conservatives are facing the first global warming lawsuit every launched in Canada following the failure of their revised, and widely criticized, climate change plan showed that they planned to abandon the Kyoto Protocol.

Friends of the Earth Canada has launched a landmark lawsuit today against the Government of Canada for abandoning its international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Filed in Federal Court in Ottawa by Canada’s largest environmental law organization, Sierra Legal, the lawsuit alleges that the federal government is violating Canadian law by failing to meet its binding international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the government must abide by its international agreements in preventing pollution. What this means on the ground is that the Harper government is facing an embarrassing lawsuit in front of the Canadian public that largely discredits their rhetoric while revealing how appallingly little they are actually aiming to do with their climate change plan.

A leaked document shows that the US remains rigidly opposed to any action on global warming that involves firm targets and timelines. The G8 nations will be meeting next month to discuss new commitments in fighting global warming, but a memo obtained by Greenpeace outlines the firm opposition from the US.

"The US still has serious, fundamental concerns about this draft statement," a red-inked note reads.

"The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses 'multiple red lines' in terms of what we simply cannot agree to," it continues.

"We have tried to 'tread lightly' but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position."

Meanwhile, Britain and other EU nations are seeking a 60% reduction in emissions by 2050, and last week Japan announced a proposal that would see a 50% reduction by the same date.

But as long as the world is hung up on US buy-in, the entire process needs a wake up call and reality check - in that order.

The US will never agree to real progress on this issue so long as the current administration is holding the presidential reins. The first step other nations need to take is to realize this and start creating solutions that have a chance of working. Step one, send the US away from the negotiating table. Step two, go directly to China and India.

China will surpass US emissions this year. Rapidly growing India is a ways behind but already clocks in at number four (Russia, China and the US are ahead of them for now). At more than a billion people each, and unprecedented annual economic growth, it is essential that these rapidly emerging superpowers are brought into international efforts immediately, regardless of US participation. If the US is throwing a wrench into those efforts, then they need to be sent home. The fallacy of the debate is buying into the notion that the US needs to be there in the first place.

The EU will continue to bring forward aggressive targets and action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Japan will also. Add the combined clout of the Asian superpowers and formal US participation becomes a side issue. These economies can establish and drive an international carbon market. Once that emerges many US companies will inevitably opt in as a viable carbon market creates new business opportunities. Also, the massive trade deficit of the US means that they'll be purchasing most of their products from other nations with way higher efficiency standards. So the US carbon footprint stands to benefit by proxy, if not directly.

This still leaves the thorny issue of direct US emissions - namely in the form of industrial, energy, and automotive emissions. For this, the best solution is their state and municipal governments. Increasingly, US cities and individual states are forging their own global warming strategies. When the international community begins dealing directly with these institutions and stops banging their head against the Bush administration wall, they will greatly help efforts already going on in the US - and inevitably, Washington will need to follow.

A paper to be published today will reassert the commitment of Britain's Labour government to nuclear power, despite legal challenges and continued public opposition.

An energy white paper published today will promise further consultation on the issue as demanded by the high court following a challenge by Greenpeace, but industry secretary Alistair Darling will make clear his belief that nuclear is essential if the UK is to meet growing energy demands and meet its Kyoto treaty commitments on C02.

The government insists that new nuclear capacity will be needed to reach their targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but they have so far failed to convince voters. In the Guardian's most recent public poll, 48% of those surveyed continued to oppose nuclear power while 44% were in favour. Interestingly, 62% of men support it while the same can be said of just 27% of women.

Although nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases, the disposal and storage of nuclear waste remains the biggest concern of both citizens and governments. Put another way....

Do you agree with this guy's assessment of global warming? If so, you like the Conservative government, are a minority.

Update May 2nd: Though the sentiment in the summary below is right, one correction needs to be made. The Conservative plan is not legislative but rather regulatory in nature. What does this mean? Essentially that it is not a Bill and does not have to be passed or ratified by government, and that it becomes very easy for government to simply not enforce it. The opinion below would hold if they would legislate the same provisions in law.

On Thursday, the Conservatives unveiled their new climate change plan. It's a weak plan. It does promise results, but far behind those of the rest of the world. Under the Tory plan, Canada would still be 30% short of its Kyoto commitments by the year 2020.

The facts of the situation are as follows; this plan will not meet Canada's Kyoto commitments; industry, which is responsible for 50% of Canada's emissions, is only being asked to shoulder 40% of the burden; intensity based targets will not reduce emissions if production increases at a significant rate; and there is no firm incentive for reductions by industry until 2010 when a proposed carbon tax of $15 per tonne kicks in.

So what should the opposition do? That part is easy. Pass it - with one strict condition.

With less than 5 years remaining under the current Kyoto treaty, it's time to let pragmatics take the lead over ideals. Canada has been a complete laggard in addressing climate change - thanks to both the Liberals AND the Conservatives - and we will continue to do so until some firm policy is in place. If the opposition forces an election over this issue, the result will likely be another minority government and another year of political wrangling before there is any hope of action being taken.

Canada needs to begin taking action now. And the one condition opposition parties need to insist on in passing this plan is that the $15 per tonne carbon tax needs to go into effect in 2008, not 2010 as the Conservatives are proposing.

This would provide genuine incentive for reducing greenhouse gases next year, but more importantly, it provides a policy foundation that Canada can build on. Subsequent governments will then have the tools and the regulatory framework in place to be more aggressive on emissions. Being more aggressive is also going to get a lot easier, once Canadian industry and the economy as a whole, takes the first steps along this road. To date, we've been standing at the starting line watching other nations sprint towards the finish line.

It has become clear that, on this issue, Canada will need to learn to walk before it can run. Passing this bill will start us walking. The next government can work towards getting us running by adding new measures to it.

A study released on Tuesday revealed that New York was responsible for a full 1% of the United States' greenhouse gases. Coming much later in the article is the key point - that at 8.7 million people the Big Apple accounts for almost 3% of the total US population, meaning that the footprint of your average New Yorker is about 1/3 that of your average American.

The lesson? If every American lived like a New Yorker the US wouldn't have to agree to the Kyoto Protocol - because they already would have reached its targets.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg had commissioned the study to evaluate the city's progress in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030. Cheers to real leadership.

Overcoming opposition from France and several eastern bloc countries, the European Union has agreed to bold new deal on global warming that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20% lower than 1990 levels by 2020 and to see the EU producing a fifth of its energy via renewable sources by the same date.

The tough work in now ahead. A major stumbling block was overcome when member countries conceded to France's demand that nuclear should remain an energy option. Now countries will need to determine what reduction targets each nation should be responsible for. Eastern nations are looking for less aggressive targets than their more economically advanced western neighbours.

However, the ground work is now in place for Europe. They will take their reduction targets with them to the G8 summit in early June where other industrialized countries and emerging economies, such as China, will be pressed to agree a 30% global cut to succeed the Kyoto protocol. Europe will follow suit with a 30% commitment if other key nations agree.

As was the case during an earlier reading in October, the federal Conservatives were embarrassed by opposition parties who successfully banded together to pass a bill forcing the government to meet its international Kyoto commitments. The Liberals, Bloc and NDP all voted in favour of the private member bill, passing it through Parliament by a vote of 161 - 113 Wednesday evening.

The bill, which was introduced 10 months ago by Liberal backbencher Pablo Rodriguez, gives the government 60 days to table a detailed plan outlining how Canada will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill is expected to easily pass through the Liberal dominated Senate and come into full legal force. Once this occurs, the Conservatives could face a potential challenge in the courts or a non-confidence vote in Parliament if they fail to act on it.

Whether or not the Conservatives face these consequences will largely depend on the opposition's desire for an election. However, even if the Conservative minority government is allowed to stand, the bill should at the very least push the Tories towards more aggressive measures to tackle global warming. If they fail to do this much, then the they will run an ever increasing risk of becoming politically irrelevant, as the provinces and the opposition continue to move forward in favour of greater action on climate change.

Either way, the environment and earth conscious Canadians will be the winners thanks to today's events in Ottawa.

A controversial bill calling for the federal government to honour its international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol is about to enter its final reading.

The bill was put forward by the Liberals last year and has the support of all opposition parties, who together have successfully moved the bill forward through its first two reading.

Both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP have pledged to support the Liberal bill, which is designed to force the minority government to meet Canada's Kyoto Protocol obligations.

Despite the Conservatives decrying the bill as a toothless tiger, the bill holds strong implications for government

If it passes its final reading, as its expected to do, the Conservatives would face a publicly embarrassing defeat and may be forced to accept the greenhouse gas limits set forward in the international agreement - something they have been consistently opposed to since coming to power.

The third reading and final reading of the bill takes place tonight.

The British government is turning up the heat on Canada and pushing the Harper government to join a UK lead effort to create a post-Kyoto climate change plan and avert catastrophic global warming.

Canada and the other major sources of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions must lead the way toward a new, post-Kyoto climate-change deal or risk economic and environmental disaster, says British Prime Minister Tony Blair's special envoy on global warming.

That man is Elliot Morley who met with Environment Minister John Baird in Ottawa Wednesday. His intention? To get Canada plus 12 other countries to join a group dubbed the "G8 plus 5" in order to craft a climate change plan that would be tabled at this year's G8 meeting in Germany and be finalized at the 2008 meeting in Japan.

Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa would join the G8 nations in building the plan. Together, these countries represent 75 per cent of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions.

During his Canadian visit, Morley was refreshingly blunt in summing up the Conservative government's climate change stance to date.

"I think when the Canadian government was elected, the present one, their intention was to kick the whole climate-change issue into the long grass, basically, and I think they underestimated Canadian public opinion, the strength of the opposition parties."

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been in the news saying he will not follow US President Bush in setting hard targets for reduced oil consumption. he is also calling on CBC's French-language television network to retract a report that links the PM to a planned fivefold increase in oil sands production to fuel US consumption.

Senior members of the British government are saying that US President George Bush is ready to make a historic shift in his government's position on global warming. The announcement is expected during the President's upcoming State of the Union address where British officials anticipate the President to acknowledge the reality of global warming and move towards a cap on US greenhouse gas emissions.

Bush and Blair held private talks on climate change before Christmas, and there is a feeling that the US President will now agree a cap on emissions in the US, meaning that, for the first time, American industry and consumers would be expected to start conserving energy and curbing pollution.

This year's State of the Union address is scheduled for Tuesday, January 23rd.