Baird is the federal minister of environment, Lunn is federal minister of natural resources and Ritz is federal minister of agriculture.
Canadians have been asking good questions about biofuel. Some wonder if biofuels cause higher global food prices. Others wonder if this approach really reduces our footprint on the planet and helps the environment.
Here are some straight answers: yes, biofuels have a positive impact on the environment; and no, there are a lot of reasons for higher global commodity prices including food, but Canadian biofuel production is not one of them.
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Canadians who pump their own gas know the obvious: Canada needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels to help its environment and also to help with the rising costs of gas.
Our government’s balanced biofuel plan will see a small fraction of Canada’s lower-grade crops being used to meet our practical biofuel goals of five percent renewable content in gasoline and two percent in diesel. Even when Canada reaches its biofuel goals, 95 percent of Canadian cropland will continue to produce high quality food. The benefit to the environmental will be dramatic: the equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.
In addition, our government is investing in the next generation of biofuels made from waste products such as straw, leaves, wood chips and even garbage. These technologies will not only increase environmental benefits, but also help our farmers get more value from their crops while they continue to feed the world.
Canadian companies and researchers are leading the world in developing this next generation of biofuels technology. We are putting our money where our mouth is by investing $500 million to make sure Canada leads the world in commercializing these technologies and building plants here.
When it comes to oil prices, we all know they are set on the world stage. The good news is biofuels give Canadians the opportunity to take some control of costs whether they are filling up the family car or a farmyard tractor.
Commercial biofuel plants are an obvious source of local green energy and farmers are seeing new potential in microbiofuel plants that can produce fuel on the farm.
Keeping fuel costs under control is about more than the price at the pump. Virtually every product a Canadian family buys, from groceries to toys, is impacted by the cost of transportation.
That is why this government is standing up for Canadian families by lowering the GST, cracking down on inaccurate gas pumps and investing in biofuels. At current fuel prices, the two percent reduction in GST will save Canadians more than $800 million per year on their gasoline bill alone….
All Canadians understand the need for alternative fuels and it is unfortunate the opposition parties are more interested in jacking up the price of fuels rather than tapping the potential of biofuels.
Real leadership means putting careful thought into policies and then sticking to them. This government is standing up for Canadian families with action for our economy and our environment.
