News Release

 

Mayor Kelly encourages residents to observe Earth Hour

 

(Friday, March 30, 2012) Halifax – Mayor Peter Kelly is encouraging all residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality to show support for world-wide initiatives to counter climate change by participating in this weekend’s Earth Hour event.

“By the simple act of switching off non-essential lights for one hour that evening, our community can help promote action on global warming in a very positive way,” said Mayor Kelly.

Earth Hour is an international event coordinated by the World Wildlife Fund and will take place Saturday, March 31, starting at 8:30 p.m. It began five years ago in Australia to allow people everywhere to send a message (http://wwf.ca/earthhour) that climate change matters and that action is needed.

Mayor Kelly said that HRM is continuing to take action against climate change on a number of levels.

“This year, Council adopted a new target for reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent from 2008 levels by 2020,” he said. “An action plan has been developed to meet this ambitious goal and we are working hard to reduce energy use in our buildings, vehicles and various lighting facilities.”

Mayor Kelly noted that energy efficiency is built into all municipal construction, ensuring all new buildings are built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver standards. He also pointed out that there are 200 solar panels atop the Canada Games Centre, making it one of the largest solar installations in Canada. In addition, the municipality has drilled 150 boreholes to make use of geothermal energy – more than anyone else in Atlantic Canada.

 

The mayor added that HRM is also engaged in a $5-million pilot project to encourage homeowners to meet their domestic hot-water needs by installing rooftop solar panels.

 

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Contact:
Mayor Peter Kelly

(902) 490-4010