City seeks public input with updated climate plan

Prince George is looking to become cleaner and is looking to its residents for help.

The City of Prince George is launching a public engagement campaign to determine priorities for actions that the City should take on in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These actions will then be presented in a new plan that would update the City’s last energy and greenhouse gas management plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2007.

“We have a couple of sessions, we really want to hear feedback and input from the public on what they feel would be appropriate actions for the city to take to reduce greenhouse gases,” Andrea Byrne, City of Prince George’s Environment Supervisor, told MyPGNow.

Currently, 50 per cent of the Northern Capital’s greenhouse gas emissions stems from the burning of gasoline and diesel in vehicles.

The new plan will reflect Prince George’s current energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings account for another one-third through the burning of fossil fuels (such as natural gas) to produce heat and hot water. Waste accounts for 13 per cent, which is produced when biodegradable materials, such as yard and kitchen wastes, decompose without the presence of oxygen (buried deep in a landfill, for example) and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

“The proposed actions reflect the Prince George context and include initiatives related to transportation, buildings, waste and food, land use, and renewable energy,” said Byrne. “We’ve identified 13 specific actions that are relevant to the Prince George community, are aligned with other City initiatives, and have the potential to significantly reduce our GHG emissions while also potentially reducing long-term infrastructure costs, making people healthier, and even stimulating new economic opportunities. Now we want residents to indicate the actions that are most important to them.”

Public input is being sought in-person and via an online survey:

• June 12 – Bob Harkins Branch of the Prince George Public Library, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Presentations will be at 12:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7:00 p.m.
• June 22 – Prince George Farmers Market, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• July 11 – Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park Pavilion, noon to 8:00 p.m.

The online survey will be available from June 12 until July 31, 2019, at www.princegeorge.ca/environment.

After the last climate change plan was produced in 2007, Prince George became one of the first communities in Canada to establish a GHG inventory, set targets and establish action plans, and measure results. GHG emissions are publicly reported in the City Annual Report. The establishment of the downtown renewable energy system in 2012 has reduced greenhouse gas emissions more than any other single City initiative. The system distributes hot water through underground piping to eleven downtown buildings, almost completely offsetting their natural gas consumption for heat. The hot water is produced at Lakeland Mills using the byproduct from lumber production.

Public input on the priority actions will help shape the City’s new Climate Change Mitigation Plan. The draft plan will be presented to Council for approval.