Province Extends Deadline for Written Submissions on Energy Strategy

The Department of Energy is extending the deadline for written submissions on its renewed energy strategy and climate change action plan. Submissions will be accepted until Jan. 11.

Under the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, Nova Scotia has established a target to have one of the cleanest and most sustainable environments in the world by 2020.

"The province has set a deadline of 2020 for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions 10 per cent below 1990 levels," said Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt. "We're committed to achieving that goal while maintaining a strong and growing economy."

Meeting these targets requires a renewed energy strategy and climate change action plan. The province is seeking the public's views on the new policy.

The province has created two documents, Consultation Paper: Nova Scotia's Renewed Energy Strategy and A Background Paper to Guide Nova Scotia's Climate Change Action Plan, to help inform public discussion. The first deals with broad energy policy and the second with climate change -- especially action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The documents are online in English and French at www.gov.ns.ca/energy/energystrategy . Submissions can be mailed to Energy Strategy, P.O. Box 2664, Halifax, N.S., B3J 3P7, or e-mailed to [email protected] .

The Department of Energy is conducting a dozen public consultation workshops on energy strategy at locations around the province. Information from workshops and written submissions will be used to create the Energy Strategy and the Climate Action Plan, scheduled for release in the spring.