In an effort to get a handle on climate change, the Sunshine Coast Regional District SCRD) is taking on the ambitious project of lowering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at the community level.
The SCRD kicked off its Community Energy Emissions Program (CEEP) at a public meeting in Sechelt Oct. 22.
Dion Whyte, manager of sustainable services for the SCRD, said the CEEP is partially in response to provincial plan to lower emissions down by 33 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 as well as a 2008 bill mandating local governments to get involved.
"They are mandating local governments establish community-wide GHG reduction targets in each of their official community plans (OCP) by the end of March 2010," Whyte said. "This is the process we are using to develop those targets and ultimately a whole series of recommendations for how we can move towards achieving those targets."
Whyte added that SCRD had already resolved to tackle climate change at the community level before the provincial bill was passed, extending the scope of CEEP beyond the provincial mandate.
Before setting the targets and priorities, the first step the SCRD is taking is an education program for residents to understand climate change and CEEP.
The first meeting saw about 25 people show up to learn what the largest sources of GHGs are on the Coast, what a rise in temperature would mean for residents and what possible things can be done.
Part of the meeting was an exercise to get attendees thinking about how a rise in temperature over 50 or 100 years would affect life on the Sunshine Coast, including decreased snow pack and, by extension, water flow in the watersheds, loss of species, sea level rise and loss of waterfront property, increased risk of erosion in already high-risk areas, increased risk of forest fire as well as the economic impacts these things could cause.
According to the SCRD's soon-to-be-published report, transportation on the Coast accounts for the largest single source of GHGs.
Whyte said there are a number of tools the SCRD has available to help reduce GHGs including changes to OCPs to encourage density and non-vehicle transportation, changes to building code standards to reduce GHGs and possible changes to solid waste collection.
Whyte and other SCRD staff will be presenting the basics of CEEP and gathering public input at a series of informal meetings across the Coast. You can find them Nov. 9 in the lobby of the Gibsons and Area Community Centre, from 5 to 7 p.m., and at Sunnycrest Mall from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Nov. 10 at the Sechelt Aquatic Centre from 5 to 7 p.m. Details of a Pender Harbour meeting will be announced at a later date.
