The federal NDP's Climate Change Accountability Act passed its final vote in the House of Commons today.

Bill C-311 sets greenhouse gas emissions targets consistent with the Kyoto protocol and those of other developed countries and is more stringent than Prime Minister Stephen Harper's goals.

Harper has argued that going beyond the U.S. targets (a 17 per cent reduction below 2005 levels) would be bad for the Canadian economy. This bill would require the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent below 1990 levels over the next decade, and 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois united to push forward the bill, which passed with a vote of 149 to 136. It will now move to the Senate for debate.

"It is a great day for Canada as we finally have a blueprint for greening our future," declared NDP leader Jack Layton in a press release. "We would not be here without the thousands of Canadians who called and wrote to their Members of Parliament, pushing them to finally adopt meaningful climate-change legislation."

Colleen Kimmett reports for The Tyee.