New provincial funding to help municipalities reduce greenhouse gas emissions is being welcomed by various stakeholders.
The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC) will use $54 million from the Climate Leadership Plan to deliver multi-year programs for small-scale community generation, energy-efficiency upgrades for buildings, and solar energy for schools.
The Climate Leadership Plan includes the controversial carbon tax.
Al Kemmere, a Mountain View County councillor and president of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC), calls the new MCCAC funding welcome.
“The AAMDC is encouraged by this new injection of funding into the MCCAC,” said Kemmere. “We believe that the magnitude of this new funding is an important recognition of the role municipalities play in addressing climate change. We look forward to getting this new funding flowing to local projects.”
Barry Morishita, the president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA), also called the new funding good news.
“This funding enables municipalities to continue to build climate change resilience, improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases,” said Morishita.
The new funding will be directed to four principal areas:
- $16.5 million for Renewable Energy and Community Generation, supporting smaller-scale renewables projects in municipalities across the province.
- $17.5 million for Community Infrastructure Greening, helping municipalities reduce greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting existing municipal buildings such as community rinks, arenas, swimming pools and more.
- $5 million for Municipal Fleet Greening, which would target the testing of electric busing in municipalities with a view to sharing the knowledge and experience broadly across the AUMA and AAMDC.
- $15 million for Renewable Energy for Schools, providing funding to school authorities to install solar technology systems on existing school facilities.
The Climate Leadership Plan (with its carbon levy) has created a deep divide between the Notley government and the official Opposition United Conservative Party (UCP) that will very likely never be bridged.
Nevertheless, in this instance, the new funding from the carbon tax aimed at helping municipalities move forward in the age of climate change is welcome and well spent.
- Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor
