Gore Praises Quebec's CO2 Law

Montreal, Canada (AHN) - Former U.S. vice president Al Gore on Saturday lauded Quebec's environmental policies - especially the enactment of CO2 tax, which he says, puts the region farther than any other in world.

Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming and climate change, was in Montreal to attend an environmental training session.

"Quebec has been the first province to adopt a CO2 tax, which is generally considered to be the single most sensible and effective policy response. You know, CO2 is invisible and tasteless and odorless and it comes with no price tag, so it's invisible to the economy," Gore said in interview with Canadian Press.

The prominent environmental activist had nothing but praise for Premier Jean Charest's government for becoming the first Canadian jurisdiction to introduce a carbon tax and commended Quebec for other measures it had undertaken in favor of the environment.

Quebec's carbon tax, which kicked in last year, directs the region's revenues to initiatives supporting green technology.The plan was created to help Quebec reach Kyoto Protocol targets to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to below 1990 levels by 2012.

Last month, the Conservatives released details of their greenhouse-gas reduction plan, which they say will result in a 20 per cent drop in emissions from 2006 levels by 2020.