The Toronto Star's Bob Hepburn takes a critical look at Canada's lousy record of protecting its environment.

Some excerpts:

Canada is no longer the world leader in protecting the environment or our wildlife, despite all our wilderness, lakes and rivers and wide-open spaces.

In fact, while Canada deserves praise for ranking high in many facets of international reports on the environment, we are woefully behind much of the world in many other areas.

Bluntly, our record on the environment is becoming a national disgrace.

That harsh assessment comes from Johanne Gélinas, the federal environment commissioner. "I am concerned at signs that Canada's environment status and reputation may be slipping," she said last October. ...

Some excerpts:

Hepburn noted Canada fares well in some areas on some international report cards.

In some areas, however, we fared near the bottom. Canada ranked 144 of 146 in reducing transboundary environmental pressure, 126 in reducing air pollution, 107 in greenhouse gas emissions, 97 in natural resource management, and 27 in air quality. On many of this indices, Canada trailed the U.S.

And then there's Kyoto.

In just four days from now, the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions will officially come into force. Canada was a big champion of the idea and quickly signed on to the international treaty, promising that by 2012 we would cut our emissions by 6 per cent from our 1990 levels.

But even before the accord goes into effect, it is painfully obvious there is no way Canada will be able to keep that ambitious promise. Indeed, our emissions have been growing — not shrinking — in recent years.

For Canada, our Kyoto failure will be just another sign that our reputation as a world leader in protecting the environment is on a downward slide.