The Saskatchewan government is aiming to cut the province's greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent in the next 13 years and 80 per cent by 2050.

The targets were unveiled in Saskatoon Thursday as part of the Saskatchewan energy and climate change plan.

"Friends, this plan is ambitious. It is extremely ambitious. But so too is the depth of the challenge that faces us," Premier Lorne Calvert said.

That challenge, according to Calvert, is to try to slow climate change and save the planet.

The government will attempt to do that by concentrating on several key areas, including fostering growth of new technologies like clean coal and wind power, planting more trees, and emphasizing on conservation.

It's the sort of talk that warms the heart of environmentalists like Saskatoon's Anne Coxworth.

"Well, when I hear the premier talking about the moral responsibility to our planet, that's the kind of language that we need," said Coxworth, a longtime environmental activist.

However, Coxworth is less enthusiastic about the NDP's self-described "ambitious" targets.

According to Environment Canada, Saskatchewan's greenhouse gas emissions are rising rapidly — they increased 62 per cent from 1990 to 2004.

Under the plan introduced Thursday, it will take decades just to get back to 1990 levels, Coxworth said.

With files from the Canadian Press