Good Start. Now Let’s Get Serious About 2030

For immediate release: October 27, 2021

K’jiipuktuk / /Halifax - The new Environmental and Climate Reduction Act introduced in the Nova Scotia Legislature today is a good step in the right direction. Sierra Club Canada Foundation is pleased to see the inclusion of legislated target dates, including the phase-out of coal-fired electricity generation by 2030. We’re also glad to see more focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion and assurances that sustainable prosperity will be part of every government department’s mandate.  

However, the proposed Act also contains some red flags. “Nowhere in this bill is the term ‘renewable energy’ defined,” says Tynette Deveaux, with the Beyond Coal Campaign. “That means Nova Scotia Power can continue to count forest biomass as part of its renewable energy supply. The problem is, burning forest biomass for electricity generates more greenhouse gas emissions than coal—and it’s incentivizing clearcutting, which is not sustainable forestry.”

 The Act calls for 80 percent of the province’s electricity to be supplied by renewable energy by 2030. “It’s simply not enough,” says Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Program Director. The Special IPCC Report released in August makes it clear that we’re rapidly heading toward 1.5 degree Celsius of warming. We need to pivot with the latest science and recommendations. And we’ve been told, this is now a “code red” situation.”

 In the coming days, we’ll be examining the proposed Act in fine detail and will provide feedback at the Law Amendments Committee hearing.

 

For more information, please contact :  

Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director / Sierra Club Canada Foundation

1-902-444-7096 / gretchenf@sierraclub.ca

 

Tynette Deveaux, Beyond Coal Campaign / Sierra Club Canada, Atlantic Chapter

1-902-719-9083 / tynetted@sierraclub.ca