A shot at grant money prompted city council to adopt stronger language for its two-month-old greenhouse gas reduction policy.
On Monday council approved targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was an about-face after a Nov. 29 decision to “consider” reducing city greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 2008 levels by 2020, and a lower target of six per cent for emissions from the community.
The change came at the recommendation of city administrators, who said the city has to set targets before being eligible for a matching grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
“It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario,” said city manager Bill Holtby. “In order to receive funding … you need to set targets.”
Some councillors wondered why they were setting targets without having a plan to achieve them. The city will use the grant money and $15,000 from its budget to formulate such an action plan, Holtby said.
He stressed that the city isn’t bound to pursuing the plan if it chooses to back away in the future.
Coun. Cam MacKay was the only council member to vote against the motion. He questioned the wisdom of forming a plan without a commitment to implement it.
“It could simply mean we’re going to do a whole bunch of busy work, get a big plan and spend $15,000 of taxpayers’ money on something we’re not going to do,” he said.
He wondered if the targets would deter businesses from locating in St. Albert and questioned the effectiveness of emissions reduction targets.
“I’ve looked at some other communities and I haven’t seen any communities that have reached any of their targets no matter how aggressive or less aggressive they are,” he said.
“When I was campaigning … I went to a lot of doors and I didn’t have one person mention this was a priority to them.”
Coun. Cathy Heron held the opposite view.
“The consequences of not making a concerted effort to lower our greenhouse gas emissions is a much greater threat, so I think we need to get going on this path,” she said.
“There are cities that have far more ambitious targets than our own,” she added. “Some municipalities started up 10 years ago and I think we’re a little slow getting there.”
It will take about six months for the grant approval process, then six months to a year for the city to devise its action plan, Holtby said.
