Tories to spend $300M on renewable energy
Last Updated: Thursday, January 18, 2007 | 7:31 PM ET
CBC News
The Tory federal government will announce Friday that it plans to spend $300 million over the next four years for renewable energy projects, one of a number of environmental initiatives that are similar to Liberal proposals, CBC News has learned.
Called the ecoEnergy Renewable Power Initiative, it will provide money for new projects in wind, solar, tidal, geothermal and biomass energy.
The money will support projects capable of generating 4,000 megawatts of renewable energy — enough electricity for about 1.5 million homes or four times the amount of renewable energy Canada has right now.
On Sunday, the government is expected to introduce a new version of the Energuide program — a project that involved giving homeowners money to improve their energy consumption and the energy efficiency of their homes.
Last spring, the Conservatives cancelled the Energuide project, saying it was inefficient. In the 2005 budget, the Liberals were planning to continue and greatly expand the Energuide program, spending $225 million for energy improvements in 500,000 homes until 2010.
The Tories will also announce a plan to promote energy-efficient products and equipment for homes, like air conditioners and dishwashers.
Sunday's environmental announcement will be the third such announcement by the Conservatives over a five-day span.
Liberal policies resurrected, says critic
And all are similar to Liberal proposals in their budget of 2005.
Liberal environment critic David McGuinty told CBC Newsworld on Friday the Conservatives are simply "running around the country re-announcing" Liberal programs cut from the last budget.
"I'm pleased to see the government is resurrecting Liberal policies and re-announcing them," he said. "I just wish they'd have a little bit more candor in admitting it."
On Wednesday, the government announced $230 million for clean energy research.
In comparison, the Liberals in their 2005 budget had allocated $200 million for similar research and development.
The Liberals had also planned to spend $300 million on projects that could produce 4,500 megawatts of renewable energy over five years, compared to the Tory plan of $300 million to produce 4,000 megawatts of renewable energy over four years.
The Tories' version of the Energuide program is expected to be a bit different than the Liberal plan. For example, sources tell CBC News that the government will not pay for the final audit of the home, which the Liberal program did.
But essentially the new version will be similar to the former Energuide program.
