01/15 Canada Enviros Slam Gov't Policy on Warming

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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                    GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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>> ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SLAM FEDERAL POLICIES ON GLOBAL WARMING
Federal Budget Should Drop Oil Industry Subsidies
Following New Warnings about World-wide  Surge in Infectious
Disease
 
What:  Greenpeace and Sierra Club Press Conference
 
Where:  Canadian Environmental Law Association,  Suite 401,  517
College St., Toronto
 
When:  12:30 p.m, Tuesday, January 16th
 
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon Greenpeace Canada and the
Sierra Club of Canada will call on the Federal Government to
start the fight against climate change by dropping a billion
dollars in subsidies to Canada's oil and gas industry---the
primary producer of the greenhouse gases which are contributing
to increasing temperatures around the world.
 
 The call follows the release of a report by the American Medical
Association which predicts a worldwide surge in infectious
diseases due to global warming.  The report, which says the
world can expect at least one million additional deaths related
to diseases like malaria, dengue and cholera, is the latest in a
series of predictions from the scientific community highlighting
the catastrophic impact of global warming.
 
During the press conference Greenpeace Canada's Energy Campaigner
Kevin Jardine and the Sierra Club's Louise Commeau will critique
Canada's current global warming policy and call on Finance
Minister Paul Martin to eliminate all energy subsidies in his
upcoming federal budget.  Martin is currently considering an
additional $7 million dollars in tax breaks for  oil tar sands
development in Alberta.
 
The environmental groups will also highlight the implications of
the AMA report for Canadian public health.
 
 
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Contact:  Kevin Jardine or Mary MacNutt, Greenpeace Toronto
416-597-8408
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