Mixed reaction to N.S. climate change reduction act

HALIFAX -

The Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative government called the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, the country's strongest 2030 greenhouse gas emission-reduction target.

How the province will pay for it remains to seen.

"We are still navigating through that," said Nova Scotia Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton. "We made ambitious commitments during the election."

The new act features 28 targets, including phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030 and replacing it with renewable resources.

"We are looking at wind, we are looking at solar. There are many tests being done on tidal power and battery storage," said Rushton. "There is no option off the table."

Rushton said these goals are realistic, but the province will not announce specific actions until spring of 2022.

Noreen Mabiza from Ecology Action Centre said she would await more information on how the government will pay for these changes, but she added the price tag would be a sound investment for future generations.

"We need to phase out coal and we need to move away from extracting fossil fuels," said Mabiza who is the Ecology Action Centre Energy Coordinator. "There are many other issues to address. It is realistic, because we are in a climate crisis."

Electric vehicle advocate Kurt Sampson said Nova Scotia's mandate of 30 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030, does not compare favourably with the national targets.

"Their goal is 100 per cent of new light duty by 2035," said Sampson who is with The Electric Vehicle Association of Atlantic Canada.

Sampson said, to stay on pace, Nova Scotia would need to surpass 30 per cent well before 2030.

"We will need to start that earlier," said Sampson.

The Nova Scotia NDP was critical of the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. For starters, they said the solid-waste reduction goal is already six years behind schedule.