Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government will soon announce new regulations to help combat climate change.

"That will be a compulsory regulatory requirement for industry across this country,'' he told reporters in Vancouver on Tuesday, where he made an announcement on funding for a "hydrogen highway" project.

"You'll have to stay tuned for the details then."

Harper said the federal government will set "achievable targets" and focus on long-term technological innovations to fight the threat posed by global warming.

"What the government will not consider is short-term damage to the economy or shutting down the economy in the short run to meet targets," he said.

"So the targets we establish will allow us to adapt technology and be a world leader in making long-term gains in emissions reductions."

The Conservative government has essentially abandoned the Kyoto Protocol target for Canada -- a six per cent cut in GHG emissions below 1990 levels by 2012. The intensity-based targets that Environment Minister John Baird has previously spoken about -- increasing energy efficiency per unit, but putting no cap on total emissions -- means GHG emissions will continue rising in the short term, climate activists say.

On Tuesday, Britain's Labour government announced a plan to reduce that country's GHG emissions by 26 to 32 per cent by 2020, compared to the 1990 baseline.

Earlier this year, B.C.'s provincial Liberal government announced a plan to cut GHG emissions by 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Hydrogen highway

Harper gave $199.3 million for environmental projects in British Columbia, including a so-called "hydrogen highway," a network of recharging stations for fuel cell-powered vehicles.

"I am very pleased to announce that British Columbia will dedicate its share of the trust fund to environmental initiatives that will make real contributions to reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

"Hydrogen fuel cells have the potential to produce energy much more efficiently than the conventional internal combustion engine," said Harper, who made the announcement at the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Canada headquarters at the University of British Columbia.

"They run almost silently. Best of all, their only byproduct is water vapour."

Fuel cells work like batteries that convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. They don't emit greenhouse gases and are efficient and quiet.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell applauded the announcement providing funding to what he described as a "clean" technology.

He imagined a day when even long-haul trips will accommodate hydrogen cell-powered vehicles.

"You get in a car that is powered by fuel cells and you drive it up to Whistler. There are hydrogen facilities along the road that actually allow you to fill your car up with hydrogen as opposed to what you regularly fill it up with," Campbell said.

"The hydrogen comes together with oxygen, it creates an electrical current, it runs the battery, it runs the car, and you get to Whistler."

Canada is recognized as a leader in fuel cell and hydrogen technology, with private companies investing some $200 million annually in research and development.

The B.C. government has indicated it intends to use its share of the Ecotrust funding on other projects, including:

• The extraction of energy from sawmill scrap and wood infested with pine beetles;
• Providing clean electricity to remote rural areas now fuelled by dirty diesel, such as electrification of Highway 37;
• Support for new geothermal and bio-energy projects, including the capture of bio-gas from landfill sites.

Ottawa's green plan has been met with consternation from members of an established B.C. environmentalist group who are not amused that the Tories are using their own brand name for the government's new green plan.

Ecotrust Canada, a nearly 13-year-old environmental organization, is peeved the federal government is calling its new $1.5-billion environment package "Canada EcoTrust."

The non-profit group's Ian Gill told The Globe and Mail he thinks the environment plan was organized so quickly that the Tories didn't even bother to do due diligence on the name.

Harper announced the EcoTrust fund Feb. 12 in Quebec, initially granting $350 million to Quebec, and then $586 million to Ontario. The fund contains $1.5 billion of federal money to support provincial and territorial projects that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, smog and air pollution.

All of the EcoTrust money, including B.C.'s share, hinges on passage of the next federal budget, which is to be released on March 19, placing pressure on the opposition parties to support it.

The money is allocated to each province on the basis of population.

On Sunday, Environment Minister John Baird announced that the Northwest Territories would be receiving $5 million as part of the new program.

The prime minister's visit continues a cross-country series of spending announcements made by Harper during Parliament's March break.

Last week, Harper announced $1 billion in new money for Canadian farmers, and also $1.5 billion for Toronto-area public-transit projects that includes Ontario's share of the EcoTrust Fund.

With files from The Canadian Press