Tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper: Stop Soot Now!

To: The Rt. Honourable Stephen Harper,

Rapid reduction of black carbon emissions is a key component of an effective Canadian response strategy to slow global and Arctic warming and avert potentially catastrophic tipping points. It will also provide immediate health benefits. I am very concerned about the impacts of black carbon on the Canadian Arctic, and on the health of all Canadians. I urge you to act on this issue now.

The impacts of soot are particularly hard hitting in Canada's Arctic. Recent studies show that they may account for half of Arctic warming and are a major cause of respiratory illnesses such as lung cancer and asthma. In fact, they contribute to over 1.6 million premature deaths each year worldwide. Air currents can carry soot thousands of miles from where it is produced. As a result, soot produced from diesel engines, marine vessels and other activities in southern Canada, the United States and elsewhere end up in Canada's Far North. Soot also has localized impacts with emissions from maritime vessels being a leading source in the North.

But decisive action to reduce these emissions can have immediate positive impacts for our health and environment because its effects are short lived (soot stays in the atmosphere for only days or weeks). This is a component of climate change on which Canada could "get ahead of" and "lead" public opinion and public policy.

Canada needs a black carbon emissions reduction strategy that knits together domestic and international action. We need stricter federal standards for diesel engines and other sources of soot pollution, and increased financial and technological assistance to developing countries to reduce black carbon pollution from diesel, home cooking and heating and other sources.

Key components of that strategy should be:

* implementation of Canadian policy and regulations to reduce domestic black carbon emissions from diesel engines, agriculture and marine vessels, such as the tightening of particulate matter emissions standards for diesel engines, including use of shore power for ships at berth; increase transportation efficiency requirements through retrofits and turnover of trucks and ocean-going vessel speed reduction; require heavy-duty vehicle emission reductions; and put in place black carbon mitigation initiatives for the Canadian Arctic.

* increased support for technology transfer for the mitigation of black carbon emissions in developing countries by providing clean diesel technology, air pollution control technology for dirty industrial facilities, and resources for transitioning to cleaner residential heating and cook stoves in these countries.

* increased support for regional air pollution control measures, and for the development of regional and global frameworks for integrated approaches for mitigating air pollution and climate change.

* assistance to Arctic Indigenous Peoples to bring forward their perspectives on short-lived climate change drivers to technical meetings and conferences, including within the Arctic Council and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Your leadership on this issue is vital to protecting our Arctic environment and the health and way of life of Canadians. The technologies exist to substantially reduce soot emissions in Canada. Now is the time to take action!

I urge you to undertake regulatory and policy initiatives and provide incentives to encourage the use of these technologies and reduce soot emissions and their impacts immediately.