Speech

Notes for Remarks by The Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment, Proposed Amendment to the Renewable Fuels Regulations, Hamilton, Ont., February 10, 2011

Good afternoon. 

I’d like to thank our gracious hosts this morning--Biox of Hamilton. I’d also like to recognize the presence of my colleague, the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture.

And I’d especially like to thank all of you for coming out today for a very important announcement. 

While Canada is responsible for only two per cent of the world’s GHG emissions, we as Canadians are determined to do our share in the fight against climate change. 

We take our responsibility to do what we can to ensure a cleaner, greener future very seriously. 

We understand that what we do, or don’t do today, will determine the quality of life enjoyed by the generations of tomorrow.

It is this determination to enhance Canada’s environmental legacy that led our government to develop a comprehensive plan to slash GHG emissions.   

By employing a systematic approach, our government is aggressively working to reduce Canada’s carbon footprint.

We’ve already tackled two of the country’s largest GHG emitters by:

• establishing new standards for emissions from passenger vehicles and beginning the process to do the same for heavy trucks;
• and by moving forward with standards that will phase-out the use of dirty coal to generate electricity, which by itself is responsible for about 13 per cent of Canada’s emissions.     

Thanks to these efforts, our government is well on track to meet our ambitious yet realistic target of reducing emissions by 17 per cent by 2020.

But while we’ve made great strides, there is obviously still work to be done.

We must continue to forge ahead with our approach to ensure we get the job done. 

I’m here today, ladies and gentlemen, to announce the next step in our government’s effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions--biofuels. 

On September 1, 2010, our government followed through with the commitment we made to get renewable fuel in gasoline when we published the Renewable Fuels Regulations.

As of December 15, 2010 gasoline is required to have a five per cent average renewable fuel content.

As the next phase of these regulations, we promised a two per cent average renewable fuel content in diesel fuel and heating oil.

And today, we are delivering on that promise.

In the coming weeks, we will be publishing a draft amendment to the renewable fuels regulations in Canada Gazette Part I to implement the two per cent requirement, which will initiate a formal 60-day public consultation period.

We are proposing July 1, 2011 as the coming into force date.

These regulations are one element of our broader Renewable Fuels Strategy and they will bring significant environmental benefits.

But the most impressive projection of the two regulatory requirements I just described is that, once fully implemented and combined with provincial regulations, they will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to four megatonnes. This is equivalent to removing one million vehicles from the road.

The environment, ladies and gentlemen, isn’t the only beneficiary of today’s announcement. 

In addition to helping ensure a cleaner, greener future, introducing renewable fuel content in diesel fuel and heating oil will create tremendous economic opportunities for the country’s farmers and biofuel producers. My colleague, Minister Ritz, will highlight this further in a few minutes.

It will create jobs now when they’re needed most.

It will serve as a boon to rural communities across the country.

And it will help Canada become a world leader in the commercialization of biofuel technologies.

A step forward for our environment

A step forward for our economy.

Today’s announcement, which as a former journalist I can attest is rarely ever the case, truly is good news all around. 

Thank you.