This country is teh r0x0r
I was just reading the New York Times, and came across the article Carmakers in Canada to Cut Emissions; if it's expired try this one from the Globe and Mail.
OTTAWA, March 23 - Major automakers have agreed to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases by the end of the decade, Canada's minister of natural resources said Wednesday.
...
The successful negotiations in Canada are a distinct contrast to the situation in the United States, where California's attempts to legislate emissions have run into strenuous legal challenges from automakers.
This reinforces my perception of Canada as a country like the US, except with a much bigger landmass and 10% of the population... and they selected for the most sane and progressive ones. Hmm... perhaps think of an entire country of Minnesotans, or something like that.
The article interviewed an automotive engineer at an environmental consulting company: However, he added, Canadians' preference for smaller cars - DaimlerChrysler's introduction of the Smart microcar has been very successful - will ease the industry's job somewhat.
That's one thing that struck me when I came up here--that SUVs are not nearly as ridiculously prevalent as in the US. I was pleasantly surprised seeing how many Toyota Echoes there are in the parking lot (then again, a university parking lot is a pretty skewed sample). I've even seen Smart cars rolling down the street--I was so happy and surprised that I waved and gave a thumbs up.
After all, this is a country that actually signed the Kyoto Protocol.
Meanwhile, back south of the border, it is illegal to export a Smart from Canada into the US, according to Smart Canada's website. Actually, I remember reading that Smart USA was going to market their larger convertible in the US.
This leads in to another topic--Jen suggested that I throw a Canada Day party up here next year (July 1). Canada Day used to be known as 'Dominion Day'--it seems to be a basic national holiday--official explanation is here. It seems to be basically a celebration of, "Yay, we're Canada. Go us." So if any of you want to come visit, and be out of town for July 4th, let me know.
posted by Bats @ 12:56 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Sadly, it appears that Smart is having its ass handed to it, according to this Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/automobiles/28CARS.html
This winter, executives of DaimlerChrysler conceded that there were problems at Smart. "Smart is a disaster," said Eckhard Cordes, head of the Mercedes car group, at the Geneva auto show. Smart has been losing money since it began sales in 1998, and the losses are expected to continue through 2005; with the dollar very weak against the euro, the case for bringing the cars to the United States loses steam, too, despite the appeal of the car's fuel efficiency.
O Canada! In high school band, I used to march in the Canada Day parades.
Of course, the Canadians return the favor. Last time I was back in International Falls, the July 4 parade was led - led! - by bagpipers flying maple leafs and Union Jacks.
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