One day renewable energy may give Canada enough power to light up its cities, but that day has yet to arrive and cannot be seen coming in the foreseeable future. Halton MP and Minister of Natural Resources Lisa Raitt made this point clear during a speech at an Oakville Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Center Thursday. Before an audience of several hundred, Raitt stated that carbon fuels continue to be important to the country's economy as Canada continues to not only use carbon fuels, but export them as well. “We are second in the world only to Saudi Arabia in proven oil resources, we're the third largest producer and the second largest exporter of natural gas in the world and that is even before we start talking about what is in the north and my department has great involvement in terms of analyzing how much more may be available in the Arctic,” said Raitt. “We have some 10 billion tons of coal reserves and we are the world's number one producer of uranium from Saskatchewan…Carbon fuels are a very important part of our nation's well being and will continue to be a part of our nation's well being for the decades to come.” With that said Raitt pointed out that while demand for these resources is going up, with countries like China and India requiring greater energy sources, the supply of carbon fuels are not. For this reason, Raitt said, the government is focusing on energy efficiency. “We have in this country something called the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation,” she added. “The Government of Canada is working with companies across the country to develop and implement ideas that help cut energy consumption and as a result in 2006 alone Canadian industries saved $3 billion in energy costs and avoided making more than 37 metric tones of greenhouse gas emissions. That is a huge accomplishment.” Another program Raitt pointed to as evidence of the government's desire for greater national energy efficiency was the $300 million Home Retrofit Program, which was part of the government's Economic Action Plan. Since the program was launched in 2007, homeowners have reduced their annual energy costs by an average of $500. Raitt said making entire communities more energy efficient is the next step in this process with federal, provincial and municipal governments all working towards creating a ‘Road Map for Action' that would see new developments and existing communities fitted with integrated energy solutions. While Raitt said carbon fuels were needed to keep Canada an economic power, she also pointed out that there was a place for renewable energy, which she said is needed to fill the gap created by the desire to cut back on carbon fuel consumption. She said the Government of Canada has committed to having 90 per cent of Canada's electricity needs met by non-emitting energy sources by 2020. “Just to contrast what that means, in the UK they have made the promise that they are going to try and get to 30 per cent non-emitting by 2020 and we're pushing for 90 per cent.” “We must balance our need for energy and the economic activity that it generates and we need to play our part in the protecting of the global environment and we are moving on this. We are moving on this quickly and we are moving on this decisively. This is not just an environmental necessity, it's an economic necessity,” she stressed.
