Thank you for the kind introduction Debbie Hum. Good morning everyone. First I would like to acknowledge my colleagues Mark Parent, Minister of Environment and Labour, and Murray Scott, Acting Minister of Energy whose departments are very involved in today’s announcement. I would also like recognize and thank the officials and staff of the U-N-S-M, who work hard to serve the interests of their communities. Today, we hope to contribute to your work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I know we all understand the natural assets of our beautiful province are the foundation of our long term prosperity. Our quality of life flows directly from the environment. And protecting our environment will mean fundamental changes to the way we live. Will we be victims to this change? Or will we act…and transform this change into opportunity?

Today, we are acting. Today, I am proud to commit seven-point-five million dollars ($7.5M) to support municipal efforts to fight climate change and air pollution. This funding will support creative ideas from across the province–ideas that make us a cleaner province and also make good economic sense.

Any municipality is eligible to apply for the “ecotrust municipal program” to help fund projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. A portion of the funding will help communities right from the starting line – to create an inventory of their emissions. This will help communities take stock of how and where they are using energy….to find the best opportunities for savings.

Once that work is done, municipalities can apply for grants for actual capital costs and changes…to actually start cutting their energy bills and emissions. That may include building transit capacity, more efficient street lighting, and improved energy efficiency in municipal buildings.

Save money, lower emissions. That is the simple formula of sustainable prosperity. Curbing our energy use means we actually pay ourselves for protecting the environment. All project proposals will be evaluated by a review panel looking at the potential environmental gains and merits of each project. While they will be looking at specific criteria … I believe it’s also important to stay focused on the overall goals here.

This year, in March, we put legislation in place to make our province one of the cleanest, most sustainable regions in the world by 2020. That legislation includes a commitment to cut greenhouse gases to 10 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2020. It also includes large reductions in other air pollutants by 2010.

To achieve those goals, municipalities must have a leading role. Municipalities are directly and indirectly responsible for over 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. That means you represent our greatest opportunity for change. We know we’re going to see the best kind of projects–projects that are from and for communities. And we know we have a review panel helping ensure all projects serve real evidence-based greenhouse gas and air pollution net reductions.

Our deadlines for cutting emissions are not far away…and the clock is ticking. Our 2020 deadline for greenhouse gas reduction is an ambitious goal, particularly because we are striving to increase our rate of growth and decrease our use of energy at the same time. It will be challenging. It will require creativity, innovation, and hard work. And I am confident we will succeed, because these are exactly the qualities that make us Nova Scotians.

Thank you in advance for helping make it happen. It is my great honour declare the “ecotrust municipal program for clean air and climate change” officially open, and invite you to participate. I know the ecotrust staff look forward to reading your submissions. Thank you.