Well, we are. We're evaluating a lot of things that happened in the past. There are a lot of them that didn't work.
The numbers clearly speak for themselves, Mr. Chair. When greenhouse gases under the previous administration rose at an alarming rate to 35% above their targets, you have to in fact challenge whether the programs they were doing were working. Were they effective? Were they efficient?
I will only say that we are looking at different areas where we believe we can invest in energy efficiency that will give the greatest benefit for the environment and for Canadians. That's where we're focusing our areas.
Mr. Cullen, with respect to the oil sands, you mentioned that they'll be allowed to move forward without any type of controls.
It's exactly the opposite. In fact, under the previous government there were no controls on greenhouse gas emissions. There was never any regulation of pollutants in the atmosphere. In fact, our Clean Air Act will regulate them for the first time in Canadian history. That is exactly why we brought in the Clean Air Act.
We're working with these sectors. We're coming up with tough regulations. These regulations will have to be achievable, they'll have to be realistic, and they will be enforced. I can assure you of that.
On CO2 gases, you also mentioned there was a reduction from $400,000 to zero. I can assure you that we'll be investing millions and millions and tens of millions of dollars in these types of technology.