Province Encourages Local Green Innovation

The province is inviting municipalities to develop proposals to fight greenhouse gas and air pollution in their communities, and the best proposals will earn a share of a $7.5-million fund to make them happen.

"By 2020, Nova Scotia will cut greenhouse gas emissions to 10 per cent below 1990 levels," said the premier at the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities conference today, Nov. 7. "To get there, we need creative ideas from across the province, ideas that make us a cleaner province and also make good economic sense."

The province is calling for proposals that increase energy efficiency or reduce harmful air emissions in municipal operations. Proposals will be evaluated by a review panel looking at potential environmental gains, the strength of the proposal and costs.

"This fund will create local opportunities to green our economy," the premier said. "Sustainability is all about finding local solutions to generate growth and protect the environment. I'm confident there are some excellent ideas out there and we want to see them."

The municipal program is part of Nova Scotia's $42.5-million Ecotrust for Clean Air and Climate Change that supports projects that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and other air pollution. This funding was provided by the government of Canada earlier this year.

"We are very pleased to see this level of support," said Russell Walker, president of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities. "Our municipal units can now play a greater role in helping to make Nova Scotia cleaner and greener."

Nova Scotia's Ecotrust will support a number of initiatives, ranging from tidal power to natural-gas conversion at Capital Health to carbon-sequestration research.

Project applications will be reviewed quarterly, with the first deadline on Jan. 31, 2008. Subsequent deadlines will follow every three months -- April 30, July 31, Oct. 31, Jan. 31 and onward -- until the final deadline of Jan. 31, 2010.

For more information, visit www.gov.ns.ca/ecotrust or contact the Fund Coordinator at (902) 424-8269.

Nova Scotia's Ecotrust supports key goals of the government's Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act. The act commits to 21 environmental and economic goals.