Harper Getting Cold Reception in Washington?

Prime Minister Harper is prepping to meet President Obama on Wednesday. The blogosphere seems to think that Harper’s brief allotment amounts to a slap in the face. Certainly nothing like the day long festivities earlier this year in Ottawa.

Meanwhile the President himself is busy announcing “the single biggest step the American government has ever taken to cut greenhouse-gas emissions,” according to Dan Becker of the American Safe Climate Campaign: new vehicle efficiency standards that will require an average of 250 grams per mile per vehicle in 2016 — on the order of 35.5 miles per gallon.

Groups focused on the Alberta oil sands have been pulling out all the stops in the lead up to the meeting, trying to undermine the Prime Minister’s goal “to continue to promote Canada as a secure and stable supply of energy.”

Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace had simultaneous direct actions today — RAN hanging a banner at Niagara Falls and Greenpeace blockading a dump truck in Alberta. The actions follow ads by ForestEthics and Environmental Defence working with U.S. groups, and a report written by Andrew Nikiforuk for Greenpeace released earlier. The report concludes that Canada has become a global “carbon bully” due to Canada’s Top Ten global polluter status and obstructionist strategies at U.N. climate summits.

The heads-of-state visit will undoubtedly be cordial. (And the brevity may have something to do with Obama’s need not to look like a fan of socialist health care!) But there is no doubt that the leaders have staked out very different terrain on the whole jobs-clean energy-climate front. Obama is spending unprecedented billions on clean energy, smart grids, electric vehicles and the like — on the order of 14 times Canada’s spending per capita. All of which has left a gaping opportunity in Canadian politics for a party to define themselves as champion of the clean energy economy. There would have to be real substance to the initiative but they’d have the great advantage of cribbing the Obama playbook and as bonus they’d get to bask in the Obama glow which remains strong in Canada even as it moderates in the U.S..