News
Release
March 13.2007
Conservative Government Invests in B.C.'s Environment
VANCOUVER
– Prime Minister Stephen Harper, joined by British Columbia Premier
Gordon Campbell, today announced that Canada’s New Government
intends to provide British Columbia with $199.3 million, as part of
a new Canada ecoTrust to support provincial projects that will
result in real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air
pollutants.
“Canada’s New
Government is investing to protect Canadians from the consequences
of climate change, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” said
the Prime Minister. “Today’s announcement recognizes British
Columbia’s ambitious plans in this area, and provides support for
measurable progress that benefits all Canadians.”
“British
Columbians have told us it is time to address the very real issue of
climate change, and British Columbia has developed targets and a
strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Premier Campbell.
“We welcome the federal government’s commitment to work with us on
this initiative.”
British
Columbia’s funding under the Canada ecoTrust is intended to support
projects consistent with British Columbia’s plan to reduce carbon
and greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent from current levels by
2020, roughly 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or equivalent
below current levels. The government of British Columbia has
indicated that it will use the Canada ecoTrust funding to move
forward on several provincial projects, which may include:
-
Extracting 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
the development of a “hydrogen highway” a network of hydrogen
fuelling stations for fuel celled buses and vehicles; and
-
Support for
new geothermal and bio-energy projects, including the capture of
bio-gas from landfill sites.
The Canada
ecoTrust for Clean Air and Climate Change will be designed to allow
each province and territory to develop technology, energy
efficiency, and other projects that will provide real results. The
Government of Canada will work with all provinces and territories to
fully develop this new, national fund.
Canada’s New
Government is already taking concrete action to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and air pollution by committing to implement
aggressive regulations to reduce emissions in all sectors and bring
in new initiatives in the energy and transportation sectors. The
provincial initiatives supported by the Canada ecoTrust will
complement those efforts.
This Canada
ecoTrust will be established using part of the anticipated 2006-07
budgetary surplus. The resources for the Canada ecoTrust initiative
will consist of $1.5 billion of new funding on a national basis.
This funding will be contained in the upcoming federal budget and is
a part of the actions to be taken on the fiscal imbalance. This new
funding will be available as soon as Parliament approves that
budget.
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For more
information, James Moore MP at 604.937.5650
