VICTORIA B次元官网网址� We will soon learn what Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have in mind for CanadaB次元官网网址檚 renewed effort to influence climate change.

As they prepare to join the 40,000 people jetting to Paris for the next big United Nations summit to deal with human impact on the worldB次元官网网址檚 weather, here is some context for what is to come in December and beyond.

Foreign Affairs Minister St茅phane Dion served as environment minister under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin. Then, as Liberal leader, DionB次元官网网址檚 proposed B次元官网网址済reen shiftB次元官网网址� carbon tax was pivotal only in ending his leadership. With a majority government this time, he promises the entire federal cabinet will be involved.

Dion gave a revealing interview to The Globe and Mail last week about his experience in government.

B次元官网网址淭he old system was to give the file of the environment to the minister of the environment and say, B次元官网网址榙eal with it, be the hero of the environment groups, but donB次元官网网址檛 bother us because we have jobs to create and an economy to growB次元官网网址�,B次元官网网址� Dion said. B次元官网网址淭hat will not work.B次元官网网址�

It certainly didnB次元官网网址檛 work, which is not surprising since Dion is admitting the Liberals considered the environment ministry a mere public relations tool. This was the period when Canada signed on to the Kyoto Protocol, then pretended to care about it as the United States rejected it in a unanimous vote of Congress.

We now understand more about those environmental groups, most funded by U.S. billionaires to target the Canadian oil and gas industry while the U.S. booms. Their tactics were on display in the defeat of the Keystone XL oil pipeline to the U.S., with arguments that even President Barack Obama acknowledged were exaggerated.

DionB次元官网网址檚 ill-fated B次元官网网址済reen shiftB次元官网网址� wasnB次元官网网址檛 just about greenhouse gases. He intended to impose a national carbon tax and use the proceeds to eliminate child poverty.

This concept is back, on a global scale. If youB次元官网网址檝e been to the movies lately, you may have seen a sponsored by the UN, featuring animals running the world from the seats of the General Assembly. B次元官网网址淲e have a plan,B次元官网网址� trumpets the elegant llama at the podium, not only to fix climate change but to eliminate poverty as well.

One problem with Kyoto was that it left emerging economies like China and India untouched. And while Canada endures false allegations of subsidizing fossil fuels, actual subsidies are huge in petro-states like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria and Indonesia, where gasoline sells on average at a third of Canadian prices.

China and IndiaB次元官网网址檚 carbon emissions have about tripled since the Kyoto public relations gesture in 1997. That growth is one reason why CanadaB次元官网网址檚 share of global emissions has now fallen to below two per cent.

Here in B.C., Clark intends to unveil her B次元官网网址淐limate 2.0B次元官网网址� plan before heading to Paris. WeB次元官网网址檒l see if it includes another increase in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 vaunted carbon tax, which now translates to about seven cents on a litre of gasoline.

Even without carbon taxes, about a third of the pump price Canadians pay is federal, provincial and local tax. In Metro Vancouver, itB次元官网网址檚 closer to 40 per cent. In Venezuela, a big winner in the Keystone XL decision, gas sells for around two cents a litre.

The B.C. government admits its post-carbon tax reduction in greenhouse gas emissions was largely due to the global recession of 2008-09. Now with crude oil at historic low prices, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 carbon tax is a weak signal lost in the noise of a world-wide glut of oil and gas.

Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: