Green Living: US and Canada

I know lumping Canada and the USA together is as daft as England and Scotland or Australia and New Zealand, and it's only when you visit the two countries that you realise how different they are.

In terms of these two great countries' attitudes to green issues however, they share many positives.

In the aftermath of President Obama's inauguration there has been a feeling that environmental issues would move further up the agenda in American politics.

These past few weeks have seen Obama make huge steps towards a climate change bill which would seek to reduce US domestic emissions. After the missed opportunity of the Kyoto agreement, steps like this could see them rejoin the key global players at the Copenhagen summit later this year.

Canada on the other hand has always been more inclined to back green measures.

With so much of Canada's land areas of enormous natural beauty and scientific interest, the Canadian government has historically supported environmental issues.

If there's one lesson that has emerged from the environmental movement over the past 20 years it's that only combined, global action will have truly noticeable results.

That's why it's more important that, while we celebrate these two great countries' national days, we also join with them to combat climate change and build a more sustainable future.

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