Once unlikely bedfellows, a new national coalition of energy companies and environmental groups has joined with municipal organizations to press for cleaner air and a reduction in greenhouse gases.
Led by Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. and the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development, the Clean Air Renewable Energy (CARE) coalition is urging the federal government to accelerate development of Canada’s renewable energy industry by spurring consumer demand for “green” energy products.
The move comes only weeks after the collapse of climate-change talks at The Hague, which brought together more than 7,000 participants and 182 governments to work out details of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The protocol calls for a five-per-cent average cut in developed nations’ 1990 levels of emissions by 2010.
The initiatives being promoted include a consumer tax credit for purchasing electricity from alternative energy sources like solar and wind power, and a broader Canadian Renewable and Conservation Expense (CRCE) or Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for new capital spending to support the supply and development of green power.
Currently, Denmark, Germany and the United States all produce between 15 and 30 times more electricity from wind power than Canada.
The CARE coalition has written to Finance Minister Paul Martin asking for his personal support of these measures, saying falling behind in the development and installation of these technologies will have serious economic consequences.
Following the failed negotiations at The Hague, several Canadian energy companies said they would continue to forge ahead with their own programs. “We cannot leave the risk and costs of innovation in renewables to other countries or we will not harvest the rewards of cleaner air, achievement of international (greenhouse gas) commitments, regional development, more diversified energy sources and international competitiveness,” said Suncor Energy Inc. CEO and president Rick George.
Besides Suncor, the coalition is fuelled by major energy industry players including Shell Canada, TransAlta, Westcoast Energy, Enbridge and BC Hydro. Environmental groups who have signed on to CARE also include Pollution Probe, Friends of the Earth and the Toronto Environmental Alliance, while the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which represents 61 per cent of the population in rural and urban centres, is also involved.
