News
New Brunswick makes progress in battle against climate change

New Brunswick is on track to deliver on the commitments made in the New Brunswick Climate Change Action Plan (NBCCAP), according to a provincial government news release. Environment Minister Rick Miles released the third progress report on the action plan on June 29 at a news conference in Fredericton.

“During the third year of implementation of the NBCCAP, the province has made real progress toward implementing the plan's commitments and building on the successes of the previous year,” said Miles. “The progress report shows that New Brunswick is about two megatonnes away from its commitment to realize a reduction of total greenhouse gas emissions of 5.5 megatonnes annually by 2012.”

Highlights in the report include:

·         The adoption of a green building policy that requires all new provincial government construction and major renovation projects to achieve a minimum level of energy and environmental performance, and measures outcomes against nationally recognized third-party rating systems such as LEED, Green Globes Design and the Efficiency NB core performance guide

·         The development of the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions Project, an initiative developed in collaboration with the other Atlantic provinces, municipalities and Natural Resources Canada

·         The amendment of the Clean Environment Act to authorize regional solid waste commissions to be generators of electricity and the amendment of the Municipalities Act enabling municipal electricity generation

·         And the expansion of an additional 54 MW of wind energy capacity with TransAlta Corp. at its Kent Hill facility, increasing capacity to 150 MW at the end of 2010

The report also shows that New Brunswick recorded the highest percentage decrease of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada in 2008. Environment Canada's most recent data shows that, from 2007 to 2008, New Brunswick reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 5.8% to 18 megatonnes from 19.1 megatonnes—nationally, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.1% in 2008 from 2007.

The report can be found at www.gnb.ca/climatechange.

July 7, 2010  By  John Gilson