Regional leaders gather in Quebec Governors, premiers seek emissions deal

QUEBEC CITY – With time running out and deadlines looming for several major environmental and energy deals, this week’s annual meeting of New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers should be busier than usual.

Only days after much of Atlantic Canada and parts of Quebec were choking under a heavy haze of smog that drifted up from the eastern U.S. seaboard, environmentalists say they’re impatiently waiting for a cross-border deal on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The governors and premiers, representing the six New England states and five eastern Canadian provinces, have agreed on ambitious targets to cut noxious tailpipe and smokestack emissions.

Now they have to decide how to get the job done.

“Time is getting short,” said David Coon of the New Brunswick Conservation Council, who will attend the two-day meeting beginning Monday in Quebec City.

“We really have to bear down and actually put in place regulatory and fiscal measures within the next 12 months to actually achieve any of these targets. There’s no question about that.”

Last year, the premiers and governors signed the first bilateral agreement of its kind to reduce greenhouse gases to 1990 levels within 10 years by using more environmentally friendly fuel sources and reducing energy consumption.

“We did sign a resolution that indicated we would look at this regionally,” said Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm.

“We have this whole issue of the Annapolis Valley [in Nova Scotia] being the tailpipe of North America. We can’t solve that here in Atlantic Canada. But in collaboration with our American neighbors, we can start to address the problem.”

Closely tied to environmental concerns is the other major preoccupation of the provincial and state leaders – energy planning.

Newfoundland Premier Roger Grimes said he plans to meet separately with Quebec Premier Bernard Landry to discuss development of the Gull Island hydroelectric project – a $4 billion plan to build a dam on the lower section of the Churchill River.

Grimes said it’s beginning to look like a deal may be possible by the end of October, earlier than the original December target.

“We’re both interested in sitting down for at least a few minutes to get a report on the progress.”