Friday, March 28, 2014 (Halifax, NS) – Mayor Mike Savage is encouraging all residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality to join the millions of people across the world who are switching off their lights in honour of Earth Hour this Saturday, March 29.
“HRM is a leader when it comes to energy efficiency and the environment, and I know our citizens are equally involved in efforts to help reverse climate change,” said Mayor Savage. “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to do everything we can now to ensure they inherit a better world tomorrow. I would encourage everyone to take part not just this weekend, but to find ways they can cut back on their energy use every day.”
Earth Hour started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. It’s now an international event involving some 7,000 cities and towns, coordinated by the World Wildlife Fund.
As part of the event, participants switch off their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. They can also upload video messages online at http://wwf.ca/earthhour that help spread awareness on climate change and encourage people to get involved.
Residents who are interested in taking part in Earth Hour can get their toolkit online at http://momentofdarkness.ca/en/involve/tools.
Mayor Savage noted that HRM continues to take action against climate change on a number of levels.
Regional Council has adopted a target to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2008 levels by 2020; energy efficiency is built into all municipal construction, ensuring all new buildings are built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver standards; and photovoltaic solar panels recently installed on the Pavilion and washrooms on the Halifax Common will result in annual greenhouse gas reductions of 4,675 kg of CO2 and 3,140 kg of CO2 respectively. Residents can find out more about these projects online at: http://www.halifax.ca/environment/documents/CorporateGreenhouseGasEmissionsReductionPlan2012Update.pdf.
HRM is also gathering input to update its Community Energy Plan, which is part of the HRM Regional Plan. Council has agreed it’s time to review and update the plan to outline actions that the municipality will take to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in the region over the next five years. Residents and businesses can share their thoughts at www.shapeyourcityhalifax.ca/community-energy-plan.
Source: Release
