The Liberals focus on renewable energy, while the NDP pushes eco-friendly retrofitting and the Greens focus on, well, everything.

The Conservatives say:

Having abandoned the Kyoto Accord as unrealistic and economically suicidal, the Conservatives have committed to reducing emissions by 20 per cent of 2006 levels by 2020 and believe drafting a more aggressive policy without U.S. support would be ineffective. The government recently refused to issue a mining permit near the fragile ecosystem of Fish Lake, and while it is a staunch defender of the oilsands industry, Stephen Harper pledged to provide a $4.2-billion loan to the $6.2-billion hydroelectric plant in Labrador.

The critics say:

The Conservatives simply don’t care about the environment. The Tories have had five environment ministers in five years, and Stephen Harper’s most recent appointment to the post is a former news anchor with zero eco-experience. While they have a decent record creating conservation of land, Harper refusal’s to take action on climate change until the U.S. develops a plan means we may not see a Conservative climate-change policy until the ice caps have melted and refrozen again.

The Liberals say:

The Liberals want to quadruple Canada’s renewable energy output by 2017, and would develop an emissions policy independent of the U.S. and hinging on carbon pricing and a European-style cap-and-trade system. They would cancel the Conservatives’ subsidies to the oilsands industry and give homeowners a $13,500 tax credit for undertaking energy-saving renovations.

The critics say:

Given our close economic and geographical ties to the U.S., designing an emissions policy independently of Washington is futile and could hurt Canadian businesses by hampering them with restrictions not found south of the border.

The NDP says:

Jack Layton has made a crusade out of fighting for the renewal of the ecoENERGY Retrofit program, which gives financial incentives to homeowners who make energy-saving changes to their properties. He would cancel the $2 billion in subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry and invest in clean-energy development.

The critics say:

The NDP’s environmental program is too middle-of-the-road. Making homes more energy efficient is nice, but it is hardly a grand vision, and diverting funds from the fossil-fuel sector will cost Canadians jobs.

The Green party says:

The Greens have an ambitious plan to cut Canada’s emissions to 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. They would eliminate subsidies to non-sustainable energy industries, phase out coal by 2030, implement an economy-wide carbon tax of $50 per tonne of C02, and introduce a cap-and-trade system with carbon swapping overseen by a non-governmental body, probably the Montreal Stock Exchange. The ultimate goal is to transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a sustainable, renewable one.

The critics say:

Nice idea, but many Canadians’ livelihoods, not to mention the social programs we hold dear, are funded by our fossil fuels, particularly the Green party’s prime target, the oilsands. Strict emissions restrictions and carbon taxes enacted unilaterally would send companies fleeing for other nations, leaving Canada a ruined, impoverished, but delightfully clean place.