by PATRICK LEJTENYI

The Kyoto Protocol went into effect formally last Wednesday, Feb. 16, eight years after it was signed and just over two years since Canada ratified it. But environmentalists aren't overjoyed with Canadian commitment - or lack of same - to observing some of its legally binding requirements. Under Kyoto, Canada has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by some 300-million tonnes by 2012, but, through a mixture of fancy accounting, ethical and financial footwork, such as claiming that Canadian gas sold to the States contributes to a reduction of oil and coal use, or paying other countries like Russia subsidies to cut their emissions, we've been chastized by keen-eyed greens. Emissions in Canada have in fact grown by an estimated 20 per cent since 1990, thanks in part to the Alberta oil and Ontario car manufacturing booms.

Questions have also been raised about the form Canada's emission-reduction measures will take. These, the feds promise, will appear in Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's budget, slated for delivery next Wednesday, Feb. 23.

In the meantime, however, the Green Budget Coalition, a grouping of 21 Canadian environmental groups, including Equiterre, Greenpeace, the David Suzuki Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and the Pembina Institute, have their own suggestions. One of the green budget's main focuses, says Equiterre's Montreal-based executive director Sidney Ribaux, is renewable energy sources, specifically wind power.

"Canada spends about $160-million a year on nuclear energy," he says. "Instead, why don't we spend some of that money on research and development and subsidies for renewable energy, like wind, geo-thermal and solar energy?" He notes that while geo-thermal and solar energy are still in their infancy, wind power has made significant strides over the past decade, especially in Europe. Instead of providing subsidies to polluters in the oil, gas and mining industries - to the tune, he guess-timates, of $260-million a year - why not set aside a fund, say $75-million, to subsidize wind power companies?

The green budget also calls for a $4,000 rebate to consumers who purchase hybrid cars like Toyota's Prius - which would be especially Kyoto-friendly, given the stage that emission regulations are vis-à-vis car manufacturers. "The federal government has so far refused to regulate the auto industry," he says. "Even if stronger regulations were brought in, it would take five to 10 years before those cars would come out of the factory." (Late last week, Environment Minister Stéphane Dion hinted that the federal government may indeed introduce legislation regulating fuel economy standards to get recalcitrant auto manufacturers to comply.)

And of course public transit subsidies are praised. The Coalition is asking that the $1.5-billion Ottawa promised the cities for infrastructure improvements go directly to improving public transit.

This marks the fifth budget the Green Budget Coalition has submitted. "In general they've been well-received," says its Ottawa-based manager Pierre Sadik. "But we're disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency on the part of the federal government. I think Goodale's budget will be framed as ‘green,' but we need a complementary regulatory system to have a substantial effect."