Premier MacDonald and environmentalist agree new money will allow municipalities to lead in the fight against climate change.
By Stuart Smallwood <stuartsmallwood@hotmail.com>
Posted: Nov. 8, 2007
Rodney MacDonald announces funding for municipal greenhouse gas reductions. Photo: Stuart Smallwood
Premier Rodney MacDonald announced Wednesday that his government is committing $7.5 million to support municipal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
“Our quality of life flows directly from the environment,” Premier MacDonald told an audience of municipal officials at the annual meeting of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities. “Protecting the environment means fundamental changes to the way we all live. We will either be victims of these changes or we will use this change as a tremendous opportunity for our province.”
Premier MacDonald said the new Ecotrust Municipal Program will start with helping municipalities create an inventory of their emissions – how and where they are using energy so they can determine where they can be more efficient. He said any municipality is eligible to apply for funding.
“This funding will support creative ideas from across the province, ideas that will make us a cleaner province and also make good economic sense,” he said.
He said once municipalities determine what they need to do they can apply for grants to cover actual costs and start cutting their energy bills and emissions.
“That may include more efficient street lights, improving efficiency in your buildings,” he said. “Improving our energy efficiency means we actually pay ourselves for protecting the environment.”
Gretchen Fitzgerald said provincial funding gives municipalities the power to stop excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Stuart Smallwood
Gretchen Fitzgerald of the Atlantic Canada Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada said the funding is a much-needed boost to municipalities.
“This is fantastic,” she said. “Taking an inventory of your emissions is the first step to figuring out how high emissions are and how to reduce them. I know there’s a lot of municipalities where it’s been a huge barrier – getting the funding to do an inventory. If you spend your whole budget doing an inventory, then you can’t take the steps needed to reduce emissions.”
Both Premier MacDonald and Fitzgerald agree the municipalities have a lot of leverage for controlling greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
“Municipalities are directly and indirectly involved in over 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country,” Premier MacDonald said. “That means they represent our greatest opportunity for change.”
Fitzgerald said, with the federal government’s lack of commitment to seriously tackle climate change, provincial and municipal ventures are even more crucial.
“Local efforts are absolutely essential,” she said. “With the federal government not taking climate change as seriously as they should it’s crucial that municipalities take steps that will reduce our emissions in an absolute sense.”
Fitzgerald says this funding gives municipalities a lot of leverage, but they still need a way to negotiate with the province over emissions that are beyond their control.
“There should be a mechanism for them to get a power plant outside their jurisdiction that is polluting their air to become more efficient,” she said. “This funding is a first step, but other things need to happen.”
The Premier says the Ecotrust Municipal Program is part of the overall environmental plan for the provincial government.
The government says it is committed to reducing greenhouse gases 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. It says this translates to about a 35 per cent reduction from current rates.
“This March we put forward legislation to make our province one of the most greenest and sustainable regions in the country,” MacDonald said. “Our deadlines for cutting emissions are not far away and the clock is ticking,” he said.
Fitzgerald said the targets set by the government are a bit outdated, but said the fact that there are hard targets within legislation means the benefits of becoming more efficient will lead to emission reductions and efficiency well beyond the set targets.
“With oil prices increasing again this year, when you start seeing how much money you can save with efficiency and getting plans in place the benefits will become incentive enough to go further,” she said.
MacDonald says the new funding will be integral if the province is to continue to grow.
“Our 2020 deadline for cutting greenhouse gas emissions is an ambitious goal, particularly because we are striving to increase our rate of growth and decrease our use of energy at the same time,” he said. “To achieve these goals, municipalities have to play a major role.”
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