Alternatives North Makes Recommendations for GNWT Energy and Climate Plan

Press Release

February 8, 2017

Alternatives North has released its submission to the GNWT Climate Change Strategic Frame-work and Energy Strategy consultations.

The submission (attached) was prepared by Alternatives North in response to the territorial government‟s request for input into its development of complementary plans for energy use and for combatting climate change.

Submission highlights include:

–   climate science demands that we rapidly switch to renewable energy,

–   NWT targets should be 80% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% by 2050,

– renewable energy credits / carbon offsets offer a temporary way to rapidly take action, and should be considered “the right thing to do” in the same way that recycling is viewed by many people,

– GNWT energy initiatives must be rigorously evaluated to prove that they are the most cost effective way of achieving the transition to renewable energy

“We all have an opportunity to „be the change that is required‟ by adopting policies to switch to renewable energy, and to encourage positive action by other actors,” says Alternatives North‟s Bob Bromley.

“All energy users must play their part, because there can be no solution without united ac-tion. That‟s why strong government leadership is needed,” Bromley says.

The submission includes a list of policy and program suggestions to be evaluated by GNWT in the development of its plans.

“As the GNWT is developing a new Climate Change Strategy and an Energy Plan for the next 10 years, we believe that they should adopt a science-based target for the adoption of re-newable energy, ” Bromley says.

Many proposals for switching to renewable energy are also contained in the recently released Alternatives North report “100 % Renewable Energy by 2050—Starting the Conversation” (at-tached).

The full submission can be found on the Alternatives North website.

Contact:  Bob Bromley, 250-384-0752/867-444-3812 robertgbromley@gmail.com

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