Canada

Conservatives are way ahead in the polls. Apparently, less environmental protection is acceptable to most of us.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The Liberal government walked back the requirement in amendments to its controversial 2019 Impact Assessment Act, parts of which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional in the fall.

Under changes introduced to the Impact Assessment Act, oilsands projects will no longer be subject to federal environmental reviews of the amount of emissions they would add to the atmosphere.

The recent amendments dropped this part of the law, which would have allowed the federal government to withhold approval of industrial projects if their emissions could worsen the impact of climate change in other provinces and territories.

Canadians are already seeing the impacts of climate change in the rising frequency of severe weather events, the disappearance of freshwater resources, more frequent and intense forest fires, shrinking Arctic ice and the acceleration of glacial melting.

"I was surprised to see the government retreat further than they need to to address the Supreme Court's decision and abandon important areas of federal authority over climate change and air pollution," Elgie said.

Martin Olszynski, a lawyer who intervened in the case, said Ottawa is probably taking a strategic approach, opting for changes to the Impact Assessment Act which would survive another constitutional challenge.

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