
Earth Day World Café: Affordable Housing

Building a Sustainable Future Together
We are excited to invite you to join the very first Maritime Green Summit on Saturday, March 6th! This summit will bring together Green Party leaders from the three Maritime provinces (Peter Bevan-Baker, David Coon and Thomas Trappenberg) to discuss the provincial and federal issues most important to people in the Maritimes, moderated by former GPC interim leader Jo-Ann Roberts.
This conversation will be followed by break-out discussions on specific areas of interest. Finally, Green Party of Canada leader Annamie Paul and Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin will join the conversation to discuss how regional issues of importance in the Maritimes can be reflected in the National party platform.
This event is initiated and hosted by the Green Party of Nova Scotia in collaboration with the Green parties of New Brunswick, PEI and Canada. It is inspired by the recognition that the Maritime provinces share many common issues and priorities that require a collaborative approach and interprovincial dialogue – something that Greens can help to foster!
A Green Future – Working together with the Liberal Party
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, February 7, 2021
We congratulate Iain Rankin in his election as leader of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia.
In his first remarks as leader, the premier-designate made several bold statements about his vision for a green future, such as eliminating coal-powered electricity, and pledging to make Nova Scotia the first carbon neutral province in the country.
The Green Party of Nova Scotia and it’s leader Thomas Trappenberg welcome these initiatives, and invite Mr. Rankin to work with us to advance ecologically sustainable practices. We expect that the new premiere will respect all Nova Scotia voices, not just those who supported him, and that he will holds fast to his bold statements, even when the going gets tough.
“I would like to personally invite Iain to work with me on mapping out the most ambitious green energy strategy in the country.” says Thomas Trappenberg, leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia. “We have always believed that our province can be a leader in the clean energy development, and I am willing to work with anyone who shares that ambition.”
FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE GREEN PARTY of NOVA SCOTIA or THOMAS TRAPPENBERG
Contact :
Communications Director
Michael Uhlarik
communications.chair@greenpartyns.ca
902 410 4388
Leader, GPNS
Thomas Trappenberg
leader@greenpartyns.ca
902 414 3960
www.greenpartyns.ca
First Published in the Chronicle Herald, December 12, 2020
It was recently announced that Alberta, the province at the heart of Canada’s fossil fuel industry, will retire it’s last coal-fired electricity plants seven years ahead of schedule, and add capacity using wind and solar alternatives. The reason isn’t government regulation or pressure from environmental groups, but saving money. Renewables are now cheaper than coal.
Meanwhile the latest Integrated Resource Plan for 2020, published a couple of weeks ago by Nova Scotia Power (NSP), confirms that Nova Scotia will continue to burn coal for the foreseeable future, potentially until 2040. This plan defies market realities and shows a lack of ambition for a province rich with renewable resources that could easily meet all our energy needs, while saving taxpayers billions of dollars and creating new jobs in the process.
Proponents of coal may argue that the plants already exist, or that rushing to replace them with alternatives will cost money that Nova Scotia ratepayers would have to absorb. This ignores the fact that all of Nova Scotia’s coal-fired power stations are near end of life and will require hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance and upgrades to keep working another twenty years. It makes sense to spend that money upgrading our energy infrastructure to handle our future needs, when interest rates are at historic lows, rather than expensively patching up old clunkers only to have to replace them down the road.
Coal is famously one of the most carbon-intense forms of energy production, but it extracts a very high cost beyond pollution or price per ton. NSP will not reveal where it buys our coal from other than to say “world markets”, a euphemism for the lowest bidder, which may include nations with unsafe, unregulated mining operations and corrupt governments unfriendly to Canada and our values. Today, China is the world’s largest coal producer. In the Americas it’s Columbia and Venezuela.
Decades ago when the world was ignorant of the dangers of climate change, at least we mined coal locally, creating jobs and keeping energy investments in our own province. The average Nova Scotia household now spends $1500 on electricity per year and rising, burning most of that money on foreign fossil fuels of unknown origin while exporting a big slice of our economy. Those are hard earned dollars that leave Nova Scotia and never come back.
The good news is that this intolerable situation can be stopped. According to studies produced for NSP we are only using a third of the wind resources available. Many other studies including one recently produced by the University of Calgary, indicate that wind generation is much cheaper than coal, cost competitive with natural gas, and continues to get cheaper every year whereas all fossil fuel prices are projected to increase substantially.
Utility-scale batteries can be used to store energy for times when wind is not blowing and to balance the grid, another area in which Alberta has shown leadership. Named the eReserve, the first of three 20 mega-watt class storage plants near Peace River began construction in September, which when finished will be the largest utility battery in Canada.
If Alberta, a province with more than four times our energy needs and a much colder climate can replace coal with renewables, there really isn’t any reason why Nova Scotia cannot. We need to demand more from NSP, and join the leaders circle in sustainable energy economy. Sticking with coal will cost Nova Scotians much more, and keeps us dependent on dirty, foreign energy.
“The violence and intimidation in Southwest Nova Scotia must be stopped and denounced by all. This continuing anarchy represents a failure by two levels of government to protect law and order”
– Thomas Trappenberg, leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia
The heinous acts of intimidation, violence and property damage by some commercial fishers against indigenous people in the ongoing dispute over the livable fisheries must be met with the full force of the law.
The Green Party of Nova Scotia denounces the violence in Pubnico yesterday that saw a mob destroy a building, set fire to a vehicle and that endangered a man’s safety. We demand that the criminals responsible be identified, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that the RCMP explain why no arrests were made despite being present during the incident they characterized as “mischief”.
This latest act of mob rule surrounding the livable fishery dispute represents a failure by two levels of government, and stains the reputation of many commercial fishermen who continue to respect law and order. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) under minister Bernadette Jordan has completely failed to make clear under what specific conditions the Mi’kmaq Nation can apply its Treaty Rights to a Livable Fishery, which some cite as the cause of the dispute.
More disturbing is the provincial government’s failure in its primary duty to protect the safety of all citizens living in Nova Scotia from threats of fear, violence and maintain law and order. No one in Canada has the right to take the law into their own hands under any circumstances. Disputes, both criminal and civil, can only be resolved through authorized law enforcement officers and the courts.
That tensions continue to be high in this multilateral dispute was entirely predictable. That no serious action was taken since the last dangerous criminal behaviour made against indigenous fishers is unacceptable and inexcusable.
Law and Order Must be Restored
The governments of Nova Scotia and Canada cannot continue to tolerate these acts of terror. By not denouncing and prosecuting those responsible, the provincial government, DFO and RCMP are enabling these criminals to continue to flaunt law and order, and endanger lives and property.
The Green Party of Nova Scotia is asking for all citizens, and all levels of government, to denounce these violent, criminal acts and demand justice for those harmed.
Green Party of Nova Scotia principles:
++ Sustainability
Move all open-net pen finfish aquaculture facilities into closed containment systems on land. As with land farmers transitioning from conventional production, ensuring necessary financial and extension support to fish farm workers to make this transition.
++ Local Self-Reliance
Communities must be in charge of their own destinies and resources as much as possible. Economic development cannot be directed solely by central authorities for the unique benefit of elites.
++ Non Violence
We declare our commitment to nonviolence, and to strive for a culture of peace and cooperation between nations, inside societies and between individuals. We believe that security should not rest mainly on physical strength but on cooperation, equal justice, sound economic and social development, environmental safety, and respect for human rights.