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NEWS: Vancouver residents call for Kyoto extension

The Vancouver Examiner reports that, “The Council of Canadians sent out a message this week to Metro Vancouver and Canadian residents ‘to turn out the lights and light a candle of hope for the Kyoto Protocol.’”

“By taking a photo of this action, and sending it to the Council of Canadians, the record of this symbolic action will be forwarded with a message and all photos to Canadian environment minister John Baird.”

“According to a December 6th statement from the Council of Canadians: ‘While the Harper government denies that it is killing Kyoto, it is now refusing to negotiate legally binding emission reduction targets for the protocol’s second phase…'”

The Council of Canadians continues to back the Cochabamba people’s agreement, but it – along with Bolivia, the ALBA countries, and many others – are also calling for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol. The Council of Canadians carried this message with thousands in the Via Campesina march on the Moon Palace yesterday.

“Environmental groups such as the Vancouver-based Wilderness Committee have also publicly criticized the British Columbia government’s climate change policies. …Ben West, Healthy Communities campaigner for the Wilderness Committee, (says), ‘The largest source of emissions in B.C. is automobile traffic. The provincial government has made funding highway expansion a priority as part of the provincial and federal Gateway Project.’”

Please send your candle picture to mramsden@canadians.org.

The Examiner article is at http://www.examiner.com/environmental-news-in-vancouver/metro-vancouver-residents-light-a-candle-of-hope-for-the-kyoto-protocol.