Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Enormous environmental benefits could accrue if the Con Mine community energy system goes ahead. On carbon emissions reductions alone the project is a huge winner. The project will displace Yellowknife’s fuel oil consumption by seven million litres a year, providing a 17,000 tonne reduction in greenhouse gases. That’s the equivalent of taking half the vehicles in Yellowknife off the road. It also cancels the emissions from thousands of fuel haul trucks.
Emissions from buildings connected to the system, the largest buildings in the city, will drop by 95 percent. Geothermal energy can heat this city for as long as there is a Yellowknife. Cheap distributed heat is an economic incentive to build a compact community with energy-efficient densities for walking, commuters, a green community for people.
Then there is the project’s biomass element. I have spoken of my Nordic country observations, where such demand fuelled big economic opportunities for local, small scale biomass enterprises. With a major stable customer base like this and the investment
security it provides, expect a cascading benefit as a sustainable low-carbon economy is realized right here in the North.
One recent letter in support of this project asked us to imagine a Yellowknife family in 2015 buying a townhouse, working downtown, sending their kids to nearby schools. Those kids could grow up 100 percent carbon neutral, their power from Snare Hydro and their heat from the Con Mine community energy system. Even their tap water would be preheated using mine energy.
While Con gold mine is closed, we are still sitting on a gold mine. Emission-free energy savings from continually renewing energy offers strong competitive advantage to Yellowknife which will pay dividends for the foreseeable future. We have a limited time offer of $14 million federal to help us seize this opportunity. The green category of the project gives us access to federal funds other cities can only envy.
People are frequently discouraged in confronting the immense challenge of turning back climate change. It is natural to say I am just one person, the task is so huge, what can I do? Mr. Speaker, they can vote in favour of the Con Mine community energy system. People are being given the chance to vote in favour of a green future. I am marking my calendar to vote yes on March 14
th
and I am hoping
Yellowknifers will too. Mahsi.