Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After listening to Members of this House talk about Alberta depleting our water resources, talking about the disappearing caribou, talking about our changing climate, we know that our resources are not endless. We know that we do not have a bottomless pit to draw from. We need to talk about conserving and protecting, Mr. Speaker, and we need our leadership to set the example and encourage everyone to follow.

If Canadians eliminated inefficient lights, in eight years we could save enough energy to heat 100,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an amount equivalent to the annual emissions produced by more than one million automobiles. Compact florescent bulbs use 66 percent less energy than standard incandescent ones and last as much as 10 times longer. In your home, the toilet uses the most water, accounting for approximately 30 percent of indoor water use, while many first generation six-litre toilets did not perform well, today's six-litre toilets have been re-engineered to flush, in many cases, better than the 13-litre counterparts.

Energy efficiency saves consumers money, helps the NWT maintain a competitive economy and reduces the impact on our environment. Most importantly, energy conservation is easy to practice. However, our stores hand out plastic bags by the ton, our downtown streets are littered with plastic bags and disposable coffee cups, but, Mr. Speaker, the B.C. government has come out and made the commitment to meet half of the province's future energy needs through conservation by 2026. Australia has announced that it will make it illegal to sell items that do not meet energy standards, citing incandescent light bulbs as the prime example. By 2010 they will have banned and replaced them with florescent. The Aussie Environment Minister says that the move could cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 800,000 tons by 2012. California is looking into this and so are Canadian provinces like Ontario and Nova Scotia. Even the state of New Jersey, where in a few years Edison, New Jersey, will have made the change.

It's the little things that make the difference. Massive strategies take time and money to enact. We need to promote simple and constructive things everyone can do in their daily lives to help save the planet. The government has produced what I would call an energy savings strategy, but has done little to strongly encourage consumer businesses to implement energy conservation initiatives. Mr. Speaker, at this time may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.