Greenpeace mobilizing Canadians to vote for the environment

“Voters need to know that the government we elect will be at the table representing a generation of Canadians on global warming,” said Dave Martin, climate and energy coordinator with Greenpeace. “This election will determine whether Canada supports a strong, post-Kyoto treaty through to 2020, or whether our children will be left to mop up our mess.”

Next year, the world will gather in Copenhagen to decide what a post-Kyoto climate treaty will look like. Greenpeace along with 30 other groups have called for a strengthening and extension of the Kyoto Protocol – KYOTOplus. The UN climate change conference is widely anticipated to be a historic watershed in the fight against global warming. The government elected on October 14th will represent Canada on this world stage.

To kick off the election push, Greenpeace e-mailed its 92,000 members in Canada with an appeal to “vote for the environment.” The organization says it will also deploy its volunteer network and door-to-door canvassers to speak directly with Canadians about supporting a candidate whose party is committed to the reduction targets of the KYOTOplus campaign.

The reduction targets of KYOTOplus are based on scientific recommendations from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. If implemented, the targets would reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions at least 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

The failure of Canadian governments to take action on global warming has resulted in greenhouse gas emissions rising to about 30 per cent over the target set by the Kyoto Protocol. The Harper government set a 2020 target that is less than three per cent below 1990 levels.

Greenpeace is asking Canadians to:

• sign the KYOTOplus petition to show their support for action on climate change
• ask friends and relatives to also sign and build support
• ask their candidates to sign a pledge to support the target
• vote for a party that will provide leadership on reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Note to editors:
More information on the KYOTOplus campaign is available at www.greenpeace.ca/en/kyotoplus.

For more information, please contact:
Brian Blomme, Media and Public Relations Officer, (416) 930-9055
Dave Martin, Climate and Energy Coordinator, (416) 627-5004
Arthur Sandborn, Climate and Energy Campaigner, (514) 235-5955