PRIME MINISTER HARPER
ANNOUNCES ECOTRUST FUNDING FOR B.C.
B.C.
INVESTMENT TO DELIVER REAL RESULTS FOR CANADIANS
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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This
document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca
