PREMIER OUTLINES NEW STEPS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE

VANCOUVER – The Province will introduce new legislative measures this fall that will mandate greenhouse gas reduction targets and provide legal tools to implement government’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent below current levels by 2020, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention.

Other actions outlined by Premier Campbell:

• Greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies and targets will be legally required in all official community plans and regional growth strategies.
• Municipalities will be given the power to waive development cost charges as a way to encourage green developments, small unit housing and small lot subdivisions.
• All new government buildings or facilities shall be built to a minimum LEED Gold or equivalent certification.
• Legislation will be introduced next spring to require the adoption of California tailpipe emission standards to be phased in from 2009 to 2016.
• B.C. will be the first province in Canada to legally adopt California’s low carbon fuel content standards, a requirement that will reduce carbon intensity of all passenger vehicles by a further 10 per cent by 2020.
• B.C. will implement a five per cent average renewable fuel standard for diesel by 2010 and support the federal government’s plan to increase the ethanol content of gasoline to five per cent by 2010.
• The Province will provide an additional $50 million this year for BC Transit to purchase new, clean buses and expand public transit service across B.C.
• In the coming weeks, government will lay out a vision for transit. It will be on a scale and scope aimed at making B.C. a global leader in public transit.