Canadians leaders, not laggards, in cutting smog

A Fraser Institute study released last Thursday comes as a welcome breath of fresh air to Canadians tired of being harangued by politicians and so-called “green” activists as environmental laggards.

The study shows a dramatic improvement in Canadian air quality since 1970, despite economic growth, an increasing population and greater energy consumption, making Canada a world leader in reducing air pollution.

It won’t change the debate over man-made climate change because the Fraser Institute is talking about traditional sources of air pollution, rather than industrial greenhouse gases — primarily carbon dioxide — linked to global warming.

But the study by University of Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick and economist Elmira Aliakbari entitled Canada’s Air Quality Since 1970: An Environmental Success Story, lives up to its name.

As McKitrick rightly notes: “Canadians should be proud of their environmental record, as air pollution that accompanied more than 100 years of industrialization has been reduced to extremely low levels and Canada has now achieved some of the strictest air quality targets in the world.”

The study found that from 1975 to 2015, concentrations of sulphur dioxide in the air fell 92.3 per cent, nitrogen dioxide 74.4 per cent and carbon monoxide 90.4 per cent.

In 1975, 54 per cent of Canadian air monitoring stations recorded nitrogen dioxide readings above acceptable levels. In 2015, none did.

Since 1999, only one reading for carbon monoxide — in New Brunswick in 2011 — has been above acceptable levels.

Ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, fell 27 per cent between 1979 and 2015.

Levels of other pollutants, such as fine particulates, are today consistently below stringent targets.

The additional good news is that meeting these targets has not significantly hampered Canada’s economic growth.

During the almost 50-year period in which these readings were taken, the size of Canada’s economy — as measured by real GDP growth — grew 242 per cent, while Canada’s population increased 68 per cent.

Energy use has jumped 21 per cent since 1995 and motor fuel consumption 26 per cent since the 1980s — while air quality improved.

None of this happened by accident. It occurred because of increasing societal awareness of the health dangers of air pollution, which created a political demand for change met by technological improvements.

For example, better vehicle emission standards and cleaner burning gasoline, plus significant reductions in the use of coal to produce electricity — both in Canada and the U.S. — led to cleaner air.

McKitrick warns “imposing additional regulations might only harm economic growth, with little or no measurable public benefit, given Canada’s air quality standards are among the strictest in the world.”

That’s because the biggest environmental debate in Canada today is not about air pollution but climate change, although such measures as reducing the use of coal to produce electricity (in which Canada is a world leader) reduces both traditional pollutants and greenhouse gases.

The question now is whether carbon pricing to reduce greenhouse gases is worth the added cost to Canadians in terms of the higher taxes and prices they will have to pay for almost all goods and services, considering that Canada produces only 1.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

What the Fraser Institute study reminds us, is that we are not laggards when it comes to air quality and the environment, but global leaders.