Ontario engineers support Kyoto

A survey conducted by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) has discovered that most of its members believe the benefits of the Kyoto Accord will outweigh the short-term costs.
The survey was conducted with 5,000 engineers, producing a margin of error of +/- 1.4%. Fifty-eight per cent of the respondents agreed that “concerns over global warming and climate change outweigh potential costs of implementing the Kyoto accords.”
The government of Canada is under pressure to take some decisive action one way or another on promises it made in 1997 in Kyoto to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions 6 per cent from 1990 levels by 2012. So far there has been lots of discussion and planning, but not much action. In fact, Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the Kyoto meeting.
Prime Minister Chretien has promised to put the decision over whether to ratify the Accord to Parliamentary debate later this year. Meanwhile the provinces of Alberta and B.C. are vehemently opposed to signing the Accord, saying it will be a huge drain on the economy. Premier Ralph Klein has called the accord “the goofiest, most devastating thing that that was ever conceived and has ever been contemplated by a Canadian government in the history of this country.” European countries have ratified the accord, but the U.S. and Australia have decided against it.
The OSPE survey results, done by Ipsos-Reid, were to be presented at the organization’s general assembly held in Kingston on Saturday, November 2. OSPE is an organization established two years ago to be an advocate for professional engineers in the province, advancing their professional and economic interests.
“The survey is a first step for the Society in defining its position on such environmental issues as the Kyoto Accord,” said a press release. The release also that two-thirds of the survey respondents were in favour of building new nuclear power plants as a way to reducing our greenhouse gases.
See www.ospe.on.ca