Accelerated coal plant retirements, a higher carbon price, new solar and biofuel programs, and energy retrofit loans could all be on the menu as Alberta Premier Rachel Notley looks to overhaul her province’s energy programs, Bloomberg Business reported last week.
“New climate-change regulations will be in place by the end of this month, and public consultation on the province’s renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies will be held in coming months,” van Loon writes, citing environment Minister Shannon Phillips. “While Notley’s government has yet to present any concrete plans, her campaign platform pledged a coal phase-out, an expansion of cleaner energy, as well as loans to families, farms, and small businesses to retrofit buildings to reduce energy use.”
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“Failing to deal with climate change issues creates uncertainty,” Notley told media late last month. “To suggest that we never change anything ever, ever, ever going forward is not particularly responsible, given the worldwide conversation” around climate.
Late last week, Phillips announced $2 million in new funding for energy efficiency in municipal buildings, the Edmonton Journal reports. “The money will come from the carbon levies paid by Alberta’s greenhouse gas emitters, and will be distributed by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre,” writes reporter Karen Kleiss.
