Saskatoon unveils 40 actions to lower greenhouse gas emissions

Council talks greenhouse gas reductions From CTV Saskatoon's Alessandra Carniero: The city has a strategy in place, but it could be some time until it is implemented.

City of Saskatoon administration has developed a plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

It comes following the city's 2017 promise to lower greenhouse gas levels by 80 per cent over the next 30 years.

“The blueprint gives us a very rigorous analysis of what that would look like but we have to work with the community with business comment, with community agencies, with organizations and figure out what that would look like and what we can afford”, Mayor Charlie Clark said.

The centerpiece of the plan is a list of 40 actions, including incentives to get more electric vehicles on the road, creating electric and thermal energy consumption caps for new home construction and upgrading lighting systems in city buildings.

“The advice from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the United Nations is that we need to be carbon neutral by 2050, in other words we need to eliminate man made gas emission from the atmosphere,” said Peter Prebble, board member for the Saskatchewan Environmental Society.

In a survey conducted by the chamber of commerce, 70 businesses responded to the proposed action plan; 61 per cent were opposed. When asked if the plan could benefit their business, 41 per cent were strongly opposed. Chamber members say those results could change as business owners learn more about the plan.

The plan is in its early stages, and more conversations with community members and business owners are expected before councillors vote on it.