Fredericton – Today, on Clean Air Day, David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South and Leader of the Green party of New Brunswick is proposing a path to achieve New Brunswick’s carbon pollution reduction targets.

“By 2030, over the next 12 years, we have committed to cut our collective carbon pollution by 4 million tonnes,” said Coon. “Most of our carbon pollution comes from power plants that burn coal, oil and natural gas, from the Irving Oil Refinery, from driving and trucking, and from heating our buildings. The rapid development of our abundant renewable energy resources and the improvement of our homes and buildings will substantially reduce our carbon footprint.”

Coon is suggesting the following initiatives as a path to eliminate 4 million tonnes of carbon pollution over a dozen years.

· Provide zero interest energy efficiency loans to help us retrofit our homes and businesses, and upgrade to heat pump, biofuel, and solar heating systems, which will significantly cut our energy bills and shrink our carbon footprint.

· Provide provincial support to municipal and regional transit systems which will reduce the costs of commuting and cut carbon pollution from the transportation sector.

· Mandate NB Power to establish the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and ensure new vehicle purchased for government are electric, and biodiesel for heavy equipment.

· Institute a program to support decentralized and district power generation with solar, wind, and biofuels to provide electricity as close to the power consumer as possible.

· Regulate the allowable carbon pollution from the oil refinery under the Clean Air Act.

“Improving our homes and businesses, and harnessing energy from the sun, from wood, and from the wind over the next dozen years will help New Brunswick’s many new start-up businesses in the green energy sector to grow and prosper so they create employment, and save us money for heat, power and fuel,” said Coon. “Building this economy for the 21st century must be a priority for Premier Gallant, so he must avoid the temptation to waste public money attracting the polluting industries of the 20th century.”