Months ago, tons of Liberal bloggers, and news media were accusing Jack Layton for making an “alliance” with the Conservatives on the Clean Air Act. That was not true back then and it is now clear that it is not true now.

The NDP was the party who had the environment as a top campaign issue during the 2004 and 2006 elections. They were warning Canadians the dangers of global warming way before the Conservatives and Liberals jumped on the bandwagon. And when Jack Layton condemned the original Clean Air Act and was the only party who was willing to fix it, it showed that the NDP is the only party that can be trusted on the environment portfolio.

When Layton asked Harper to setup a committee to amend the Clean Air Act, Liberals were saying it was a deal with the devil. The NDP rose above that, and knew that just opposing everything and not offering solutions was not going to go anywhere. The 29 NDP MPs did what they were elected by Canadians to do, get work done. Without the NDP, the committee to amend the Clean Air Act would not have happened because the Liberals couldn’t swallow their own pride… they wanted only their name on the legislation. But thanks to the Jack Layton and the NDP, the clean air act has been amended. And there will be a much-needed piece of legislation presented to Parliament this year.

The NDP amendments that got adopted today include:

—Short-, medium- and long-term greenhouse gas targets (Instead of the Conservative’s 2050 year target.)
—Earlier deadline for regulating the industrial sector.
—A hard cap on greenhouse gas emissions from big polluters
—Leading and mandatory standards for smog-producing “air contaminants”.
—A cap and trade carbon market.
—Protected gov’t authority to regulate air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
—Effective provincial equivalency rule.
—Authority to designate “significant areas” for environmental protection.
—Programs reviewed annually. (Much needed, to stay on top of things)
—Building retrofit fund.

The only amendment of the NDP’s that didn’t get passed was to eliminate subsidies for the oil and gas sector – The Conservatives, Bloc and Liberals ruled it as out of order.

Of course the Liberals and Conservatives will take credit for these amendments. It shouldn’t matter to me who the credit is given to, as long as something gets accomplished. But I really do think it is important for voters to realize who got the work done, because if the Liberals get in again or if the Conservatives get a maority, don’t expect an overwhelming love for the environment, they’ll be too busy with other interests involving campaign donors.