$1.5B Green power boost in Canada

January, 2007 - The Conservative government will spend $1.5 billion over the next decade to boost Canada's supply of wind, ocean, solar, and other green energy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday.

Mr. Harper said the incentive package will boost the production of renewable energy by 4,000 megawatts a year.

"In terms of greenhouse gas reductions, that's the equivalent of taking one million cars off the road," he said at the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in Metchosin.

"That is real, practical, achievable action on climate change."

The Liberals quickly dismissed the incentives as a repackaging of programs they announced while in government, but that the Tories put on hold.

"The Conservative plan isn't 'made in Canada' it's delayed in Canada," Liberal Natural Resources critic Mark Holland said in a news release following the announcement.

Mr. Harper countered that Liberal programs failed to reduce emissions, and that a lot of their programs were never put in place.

Then, in a direct challenge to Liberal leader Stephane Dion, Mr. Harper added: "I see Mr. Dion keeps talking about an election. If he chooses to force one, I'll be very comfortable comparing our record of action on the environment with his record of inaction."

Mr. Harper has made a series of announcements on the environment this week after recent polls suggested the issue is top of mind with Canadian voters. One recent survey indicated six out of 10 Canadians don't believe the Conservatives care about the environment.

Under the incentive program, projects constructed over the next four years will be eligible to receive one cent per kilowatt hour for up to 10 years.

Eligible projects include those that generate power from renewable energy sources such as wind, biomass, ocean, solar, geothermal, tidal and wave technologies.

The purpose of the incentives, Mr. Harper said, "is to use our environment to protect our environment -- cleaner air, lower greenhouse gas emissions and a brighter future for a greener and healthier Canada."

Following the announcement, Mr. Harper visited Race Rocks tidal energy project southwest of Victoria.

The pilot project developed by Pearson College, Clean Current Power Systems Inc., and EnCana Corp., uses underwater turbines to convert the energy of tidal currents into electricity without creating greenhouse gases. It's exactly the type of project that would be eligible for the Tories' new incentive program, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said.

"Right now, all of their energy out at Race Rocks research facility is supplied by this tidal turbine," he said. "So I think that's an enormous first in harnessing the energy in our oceans."